Mumbai: Ailing British bank Northern Rock has drawn down 2.9 billion pounds ($5.8 billion) from the Bank of England''s emergency financing facility to stay liquid.

Total assets of the bank rose 11.3 billion pounds, 8.4 billion, which "represented stepped-up operations to supply market liquidity," weekly accounts released by the company showed.

The remaining 2.9 billion pounds occurred in the other assets category and may represent the bank''s ''lender of last resort'' support to Northern Rock, according to analysts.

Northern Rock has refused to comment.

The Bank of England stepped in to help Northern Rock on last week, after the mortgage lender was hit by the credit squeeze that dried up the money markets worldwide.

The bank also saw the biggest run on its deposits following news of the central bank''s intervention, with around 2.5 billion to 3 billion pounds withdrawn from retail deposits at Northern Rock.

Bank of England announced had approved an undisclosed sum in emergency funding to help the bank overcome a liquidity crisis, and Northern Rock chief executive Adam Applegarth has said the company expected to borrow substantial amounts of money, without specifying.

A Bank of England spokeswoman confirmed that its weekly balance sheet had expanded, but said the figure was speculative.


also see : General reports on Banks & Financial Institutions