The three-month London interbank lending rate LIBOR fell below one percent for the first time in history, Bloomberg reports, citing the British Bankers Association (BBA). The rate amounted to 0.99 percent on May 5.

At the same time, the LIBOR-OIS spread (effectively the difference between LIBOR and the US Federal Reserve's base rate), which measures how willing banks are to lend to each other, fell to 0.78 percent, the lowest since September 1, 2008. It is worth noting that before the global financial crisis, the normal size of this spread was around 0.1 percent.

The three-month LIBOR rate reached a multi-year high after the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008. Then its value was 4.82 percent. However, after the Federal Reserve and the US administration resorted to emergency measures to save global financial markets, the rate began to gradually decline.

In particular, the Fed lowered its base rate to an unprecedented 0-0.25 percent. In addition, the US financial system received more than $7 trillion in short- and long-term loans and bank bailouts.

Meanwhile, the three-month Euribor rate, which determines the cost of borrowing in euros, fell to 1.34 percent.

LIBOR is the weighted average interest rate on short-term interbank loans provided by banks operating on the London market offering funds in different currencies for periods from one day to 12 months. Rates are set daily by the BBA. Their size serves as a barometer of the state of the banking system.

The London interbank rate fell below one percent for the first time in history