To ease credit, the Bank of England last week reduced its main interest rate to 1.5% - its lowest ever.

VOA: special.2009.01.16

Initial news of the BOJ's emergency meeting on Tuesday raised hopes of an interest rate cut, and stocks rose immediately after the BOJ's announcement Tuesday.

VOA: standard.2009.12.03

Like the Bank of England, the U.S.Federal Reserve has all but exhausted one of its most powerful tools for stimulating the economy -- lowering the key interest rate that banks charge to lend to each other.

VOA: standard.2009.03.18