ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said this week the central bank was considering cutting the overnight deposit rate, but analysts say that would do little to stimulate interbank lending. "In normal times, a cut in the ECB deposit facility rate would mobilise bank savings back into open market activity. However, this is not an environment that is driven by desire for yield but by preferences for capital preservation," Komileva added. In its regular weekly main refinancing operations, the ECB lent banks around 42 billion U.S. dollars and 51 billion euros. Bank-to-bank lending rates for euro funds also continued to decline with the three-month Euribor rate hitting a new two-year low, falling to around 3.16 percent from 3.20 percent and extending a two-month slide. ECB rate cuts and changes made to lending rules have helped bring interbank rates down from historic highs.