Massive Intervention In Currencies

Finance officials from the U.S., Japan and Europe in mid-March drew up plans to strengthen the U.S. dollar following troubles at Bear Stearns Cos., Nikkei English News reported, citing unnamed sources.

The intervention designed by the U.S. Treasury Department, Japan's Finance Ministry and the European Central Bank called for the central banks to purchase dollars and sell euros and yen, with Japan providing the yen needed for the currency swap if the greenback's value dropped significantly, the news service said.

The three groups, which considered making an emergency statement through the Group of Seven industrial nations, did not stipulate a specific exchange rate for the potential intervention, nor did they detail the amount of money to be used, Nikkei said.

ECB spokeswoman Eszter Miltenyi and Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin declined to comment on the report.

Source - Bloomberg