That included roughly $12bn offered through a fund created after the SVB collapse.

That included roughly $12bn offered through a fund created after the SVB collapse.

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"The size of the spike in the Fed's emergency lending underlines that this is a very serious crisis in the banking system that will have significant knock-on effects on the real economy," Paul Ashworth, chief North America economist at Capital Economics said.

In an appearance before politicians in Washington, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that depositors should have confidence in the system, while acknowledging the severity of the episode.

"We felt that there was serious risk of contagion that could have brought down and triggered runs on many banks and that's something, given that our judgement is that the banking system overall is safe and sound," she said.

Meanwhile, the vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Luis de Guindos, said the banking industry in Europe was "resilient" and firms there had "limited exposure to the institutions of the US".

He spoke as the ECB announced a further increase to interest rates from 2.5% to 3%, sticking to its plan for a rise despite concerns about how the move might affect the market turmoil.