Troubled British bank Northern Rock has drawn down as much as £2.9 billion (€4.15 billion) from the Bank of England's emergency financing facility, according to analysis from the central bank's weekly accounts.
The accounts, released on Friday, showed total assets rose 11.3 billion pounds, 8.4 billion of which "represented stepped-up operations to supply market liquidity," according to Simon Ward, economist at fund manager New Star.
"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," Ward said.
Northern Rock has refused to comment on its funding since saying on Monday it had not drawn any funds from the emergency facility.
The Bank stepped in to help Northern Rock on Friday, September 14, after the mortgage lender was hit by a global credit squeeze that dried up the money markets where it had been raising much of its funding.
News of the central bank's intervention prompted the worst run on a bank for 140 years, with around £2.5 billion to £3 billion withdrawn from retail deposits at Northern Rock, according to industry estimates.