Global central banks went on the offensive against the falteringworld economy, cutting interest rates and increasing bond buying asthe recent round of international stimulus gathers pace.

In a 45-minute span, the European Central Bank and People's Bankof China cut their benchmark borrowing costs, while the Bank ofEngland raised the size of its asset-purchase program. They actedtwo weeks after the Federal Reserve expanded a program lengtheningthe maturity of bonds it holds and Chairman Ben S. Bernankeindicated more measures will be taken if needed.

“The actions had the look and feel of a coordinated globaleasing campaign,” said Nick Kounis, head of macro research at ABNAmro Bank NV in Amsterdam. “The central banks are trying to arrestthe synchronized slowdown in global economic growth that has takenshape.”

Policy makers are reacting as Europe's debt crisis persists,U.S. hiring slows and emerging markets soften. The jury is out onwhether the additional monetary medicine will work five years aftercentral banks began to dole it out to battle the financial crisisor if more will be needed.

The Bank of England began today's stimulus push, announcing itwould restart buying bonds two months after stopping as it tries topull its economy from recession. Governor Mervyn King andcolleagues raised their asset-purchase target by 50 billion pounds($78 billion) to 375 billion pounds, meeting the forecast of mosteconomists. They said the economy will likely remain sluggish aftercontracting in the past two quarters.

Within a minute of that decision, the People's Bank of China cutits key interest rate for the second time in a month and allowedbanks to offer bigger discounts on their own lending costs. Theone-year lending rate will fall by 31 basis points and the one-yeardeposit rate will drop by 25 basis points effective tomorrow. Bankscan offer loans of as much as 30 percent less than benchmarkrates.

The world's largest emerging market is acting more aggressivelyto promote growth that may have decelerated for a sixth quarter.Officials moved after two manufacturing indexes fell in June andahead of a report on second-quarter gross domestic product, due onJuly 13.

At 1:45 p.m. in Frankfurt, the ECB also cut its main rate by 25basis points to a record low of 0.75 percent and said it will nolonger pay anything on overnight deposits as it tries to preventthe sovereign debt turmoil from driving the 17-nation euro economyinto recession. Both actions were anticipated by economists.

While President Mario Draghi has questioned the economic impactof lower interest rates, they could make it easier for banks toborrow and lend as well as build on the confidence boost euro-areagovernments delivered last week when they took measures toward adeeper economic union.

Asked today if there was any coordination with other centralbanks, Draghi said there “wasn't any communication beyond thenormal exchange of views.”

The steps by the U.K. and euro area will push JPMorgan Chase& Co.'s average interest rate for developed economies to acrisis-era low of about 0.5 percent and add to the balance sheetsof major central banks, which have already swelled 40 percent sincemid-2007.

Today's shifts come after the Fed expanded its Operation Twistprogram on June 20 to lower longer-term interest rates in financialmarkets. Data tomorrow is forecast to confirm the weakest quarterfor U.S. employment in more than two years, evidence the world'sbiggest economy has lost momentum.

The central banks of Australia, the Czech Republic, Kazakhstan,Vietnam and Israel also cut rates in June, while the Swiss NationalBank is buying euros to defend its franc ceiling.

Forcing central bankers' hands is Europe's debt crisis, whichhas caused the weakest patch of global growth since the end of the2009 recession. All but three of the 26 developed economiesmonitored by JPMorgan will see inflation undershooting theircentral banks' targets by the end of the year, according to NewYork-based economist Joseph Lupton.

Monetary policy makers have been at the forefront of efforts toinsulate economies from the crises that began to rage in August2007. They have sometimes acted together, most famously in October2008 when they cut interest rates in unison. Last year theyintervened to check a soaring yen and six of them made it cheaperfor banks to borrow dollars in emergencies.

It remains to be seen whether the additional measures canbolster growth. The Bank for International Settlements said lastmonth that central banks are confronting the limits of theirability to aid recoveries and risk creating longer-term problemsfor their economies.

Bloomberg News

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