Dec. 4: The European Central Bank, Britain and Sweden all made big cuts in interest rates on Thursday to shore up economies across Europe in the face of ever-bleaker financial news.

Many analysts applauded the cuts but market reaction indicated that even more sweeping moves might be needed to halt the decline.

Sweden lopped off a record 175 basis points to 2 per cent and the ECB slashed 75 points to 2.50 per cent, the euro zone’s biggest ever cut.

The Bank of England chopped 100 basis points for an interest rate of 2 per cent — the lowest level since 1951 — as recession loomed over Britain.

In India, the Reserve Bank of India is expected to lower both the repo and the reverse repo rate. At present, they stand at 7.50 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively. RBI governor D. Subbarao will be meeting the press on Saturday. Repo is the rate at which the RBI lends to banks, while reverse repo is the rate at which banks lend to the central bank.

France unveiled a 26-billion-euro ($32.9 billion) stimulus plan for its faltering economy as unemployment rose — the latest European country to open state coffers to fight the downturn.

With the US, Europe and Japan now in recession and other countries sliding that way, data showed a mounting pattern of job losses and corporate woes across the globe.

The rate cuts are aimed at making credit cheaper and boost spending, but banks will need to overcome their reluctance to lend for the measure to take hold and savers will suffer.

Sweden’s central bank, the Riksbank, said it expected rates to remain at the new level of 2 per cent over the coming year.