TIMELINE - Fed actions to boost liquidity

(Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve has taken a number of extraordinary steps to try to keep strained credit markets from freezing up entirely over the past year.

Following is a chronology of the Fed's actions:

August 10, 2007: In a rare statement, the Fed notes banks are experiencing unusual funding needs because of dislocations in money and credit markets and says it would provide funds as needed.

August 17: The Fed cuts the discount rate by a half percentage point and says it will act as needed to offset adverse effects on the economy arising from disruptions in financial markets.

November 26: The Fed promises more than the usual year-end liquidity and says it will lift limits on how much can be lent to any one bank.

December 12: As part of a global coordinated central bank effort, the Fed establishes the Term Auction Facility (TAF) to provide funds over a longer period to a wider range of banks to meet temporary shortages of funds. It also establishes foreign exchange swap lines with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank. The arrangements provide up to $20 billion (11 billion pounds) for the ECB and $4 billion for the SNB.

January 3, 2008: The Fed raises TAF auction amounts to $30 billion from $20 billion for each of the two auctions in January. The ECB and the SNB also offer dollar funds in conjunction with the Fed auctions.

February 1: Fed announces it will continue biweekly TAF auctions in February, holding the amount in each auction steady at $30 billion.

February 29: Fed announces two TAF auctions of $30 billion each in March. It says it intends to conduct auctions for as long as necessary to ease pressures in short-term funding markets.