Media Release Reserve Bank of Australia and US Federal Reserve Announce Expansion of the Swap Facility

In response to continued strains in short-term funding markets, central banks today are announcing further co-ordinated actions to expand significantly the capacity to provide US dollar liquidity. Central banks will continue to work together closely and are prepared to take appropriate steps as needed to address funding pressures.

Reserve Bank of Australia Action

The Reserve Bank of Australia and the Federal Reserve have agreed on a US$20 billion expansion of the swap line to provide US dollar liquidity in Australia in exchange for Australian dollars. This is in addition to the US$10 billion swap line announced on 24 September 2008. The US dollars will again be made available against collateral to local market participants by the Reserve Bank via auction, and will be used to address year-end funding issues.

Information on related actions taken by other central banks is available at the following websites:

Federal Reserve System (http://www.federalreserve.gov)

Danmarks Nationalbank (http://www.nationalbanken.dk/dnuk/specialdocuments.nsf)

Norges Bank (http://www.norges-bank.no)

Sveriges Riksbank (http://www.riksbank.com)

Bank of Canada (http://www.bankofcanada.ca)

Bank of England (http://www.bankofengland.co.uk)

Bank of Japan (http://www.boj.or.jp/en)

European Central Bank (http://www.ecb.int)

Swiss National Bank (http://www.snb.ch)