UK, ECB make record rate cuts

Dec 4 - The European Central Bank pares rates by a record 75 basis points, while Britain's Bank of England cut interest rates by a full percentage point.

British interest rates now stand at 2 percent, their lowest level since 1951, and the ECB made its biggest ever move in the face of plummeting inflation, as the euro zone sinks further into recession.

Other central banks took more agressive moves on Thursday, with the Swedish central bank cutting by a record 175 basis points and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand slicing interest rates by a record 150 points.

Joanna Partridge reports.