Bank of Japan injects $19B

TOKYO, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- Japan's central bank Wednesday pumped 2 trillion yen to ease global financial market disruptions caused largely by the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

The nearly $19 billion of funds, the second such in as many days by the Bank of Japan, is part of an effort by central banks of major economies to ease the credit crunch and liquidity problems triggered by the bankruptcy of the fourth largest U.S. investment bank.

Together, the various central banks, which includes the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, have so far injected nearly $367 billion into the financial markets since Monday.

Kyodo news service reported the BOJ action came after the unsecured overnight call money rate rose over the bank's 0.5 percent target rate. Such rate jumps result largely from private banks' hesitation to provide loans to one another during market turmoil.

In the first installment of fresh funds on Tuesday, the BOJ provided a total of 2.5 trillion yen or $23.6 billion.