The Bank of England said it’s in discussions with other central banks about how to “ease the strains” in financial markets, although it’s not considering requiring taxpayers to assume credit risks.

Britain’s central bank said it is “not among” those that the Financial Times reported yesterday were contemplating the purchase of mortgage-backed securities to smooth lending to consumers after a worldwide surge in borrowing costs. The Federal Reserve also denied it’s in discussions to buy such debt.

“We have been examining a number of other options, but it is too early to go into any detail,” the London-based Bank of England said in a statement. “The bank is not among those reported today to be proposing schemes that would require the taxpayer rather than banks to assume the credit risk.” Financial institutions have criticized the Bank of England for not doing enough to ease conditions in money markets. The governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, offered an extra $9.9 billion in loans to banks on March 20, the first move of its kind in six months to push the cost of borrowing by banks closer to the 5.25% benchmark rate. Mr. King will discuss his strategy in a hearing with lawmakers in Parliament on March 26.