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Britain's Brown urges banks to pass on rate cut

(Agecnies)
Updated: 2008-12-05 16:43

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown urged banks on Friday to pass on the Bank of England's latest interest rate cut to help homeowners hit by the worst economic turmoil in decades.

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown and opposition Conservative Party leader David Cameron walk into the House of Lords during the State Opening of Parliament, in London, December 3, 2008. [Agencies]

Brown said he would talk to Britain's banks to try to persuade them to cut the cost of borrowing after the Bank of England cut interest rates to their lowest level since 1951 on Thursday.

He also pledged to take unspecified steps to try to reduce the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), the level at which banks lend money to each other.

"We are taking action to try and get that (Libor) down," he told GMTV. "Banks should really pass on the interest rate cuts.

"Remember the last time interest rates came down 1.5 percent, we had to talk to the banks before things moved forward. But things did move forward and we will be talking to the banks again."

Britain's interest rate now stands at 2 percent after the central bank cut it by one percentage point on Thursday.

In a statement, the bank made clear that the downturn had gathered pace and conditions in credit markets remained difficult.