Bloomberg Kazakhstan, the biggest oil producer in central Asia, raised its benchmark interest rate by 2.75 percentage points to 12% at an emergency meeting and started selling foreign currency to help support the tenge. The National Bank of Kazakhstan raised the base rate from 9.25% to protect the tenge from increased external risks, support price stability and hold down the …

Bloomberg Iceland’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to its lowest level ever at an emergency meeting called to counter the impact of the coronavirus. The 7-day term deposit rate was cut by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25%, Sedlabanki said in a statement. “Furthermore, the Committee has decided to lower deposit institutions’ average reserve requirement from 1% to 0%. …

Bloomberg Europe moved to provide relief for its ailing banks as efforts to combat the coronavirus threaten to push more borrowers into default and disrupt lending. The Bank of England on Wednesday announced a package of emergency measures, including a 50 basis point rate cut and a lower capital buffer to free up cash for lending. Germany’s banking watchdogs earlier …