3 Mar 2012

Barclays borrows from ECB

5:52 am on 3 March 2012

Barclays has confirmed that it borrowed 8.2 billion euros (£6.7 billion) from the European Central Bank's latest long-term refinancing operation.

It said it would use the money to manage the risk associated with funding gaps in Spain and Portugal.

Barclays did not take any cash from the ECB's previous offer of such loans in December.

On Wednesday the ECB said that 800 banks across the European Union had accessed 530 billion euros through the LTRO.

In December, more than 500 banks borrowed 489 billion euros.

The BBC reports Barclays is the fourth British bank to reveal that it accessed the loans, which are low-interest for three years.

Lloyds borrowed 13.6 billion euros in the latest auction, HSBC borrowed 5.6 billion euros, most of it in the first auction, and RBS borrowed 10 billion euros across both auctions.