FRANKFURT, GERMANY - The European Central Bank announced on Wednesday two one-week dollar loans designed to keep the US currency pumping through critical eurozone money markets.

An unlimited amount of dollars would be provided against collateral in one case, and euro cash in the other, the ECB said in separate statements.

A fixed interest rate of 2.03 percent would apply to the former, and an exchange rate of 0.000245 dollars per euro, or 2.45 swap points, in the latter.

The level of demand for the funds was to be released later in the day. Eurozone commercial banks need to finance operations in dollars, but the interbank markets on which they normally trade froze up owing to mistrust that was fueled by and fed back into the international financial crisis.

Central banks have essentially replaced the markets for now by providing unlimited amounts of liquidity, or cash, to ensure banks can meet minimum reserve requirements that underpin lending to the economy at large.

The focus on getting money markets running again by injecting massive amounts of the world?s major currencies appears to be achieving some success.

Money markets determine the availability of credit for vast numbers of people around the globe, from managers trying to fund their businesses to families and students seeking mortgages and personal loans.