WASHINGTON, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - The head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, praised coordinated cuts to interest rates by leading central banks on Wednesday, calling them 'the right course of action.'

'We welcome the coordinated reduction of interest rates undertaken today by major central banks, as well as the unprecedented joint actions they have taken to reduce strains in the financial markets,' he said in a statement.

'This is the right course of action,' he said.

Central banks launched an exceptional joint offensive against the global financial crisis on Wednesday, cutting interest rates on three continents in a bid to underpin battered markets.

The European Central Bank, Bank of England, US Federal Reserve and peers in Canada, Sweden and Switzerland cut their key rates by a half percentage point to send their strongest signal of support since just after the September 11 terror attacks.