WASHINGTON, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) -- The Federal Reserve will auction another 60 billion dollars in March, continuing its efforts to deal with a severe credit crunch, the U.S. central bank announced Friday.

    Two auctions will be held, on Mach 10 and 24 respectively, and each offers 30 billion dollars, the Fed said in a press release.

    The central bank also said that it intends to conduct biweekly auctions "for as long as necessary" to address elevated pressures in the credit markets.

    "Decisions regarding auctions in April will be announced by Friday, March 28," said the Fed.

    The Fed has held six auctions so far aimed at injecting more money into the banking system since mid-December last year, when it established its Term Auction Facility to deliver short-term funds to banks that are in need of liquidity.

    Two auctions each in December, January and February provided a total of 160 billion dollars in extra reserves through short-term loans to cash-strapped banks.

    The new facility was developed as the Fed was trying to prevent the credit crunch from deteriorating.

    Although the Fed had taken actions such as rate cuts to add liquidity to the banking system, commercial banks had avoided borrowing money from the central bank through its discount window, which makes loans to banks, out of concern that investors would see the move as an indication of the banks' underlying financial problems.