Banks' borrowing from Fed eases

WASHINGTON — Banks borrowed less from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending program over the past week, providing more evidence that credit problems are easing.

The Fed said that banks averaged $6.77 billion in daily borrowing for the week that ended Wednesday. That was down from $7.21 billion in average borrowing in the previous weeks.

Banks have been reducing their use of the Fed's emergency discount window as financial conditions have improved.

At the peak of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008, daily borrowing from the discount window peaked at $110 billion as banks found their normal sources of credit frozen.