The Bank of Japan said providing dollar funds was the most important way to unlock credit markets frozen by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s collapse.
"The most important point was to look at the issue of greater dollar liquidity, because there was a worldwide shortage of dollars," Hidehiko Sogano, associate director general in the BOJ's financial markets department, said Thursday.
The BOJ said last week it would offer lenders as many dollars as they wanted, joining European counterparts in attempting to lower borrowing costs in money markets and freeing up credit worldwide.