Japan's central bank to supply $20 bln to money market

TOKYO, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has launched its second dollar-funds supply operation to inject 20 billion-dollar in a bid to ease liquidity crunch on financial markets.

The BOJ will lend 20 billion dollars for three months to banks and other financial institutions engaging in the Tokyo money market.

The BOJ started its first dollar-fund supply operation on Sept.24, making 30 billion U.S. dollars available against certain one-month collateral.

The Japanese central bank conducted the operation as part of a coordinated action recently agreed on by major central banks in ten countries and regions.

The previous operation, however, met with sluggish demand, with29.62 billion worth of bids received, less than the 30 billion dollar the central bank had planned to provide, according to the BOJ statistics.

Separately, the central bank injected 1 trillion yen into the Tokyo money market on Tuesday for the 15th business day of emergency operations designed to facilitate interbank borrowing amid the global financial market turmoil.