MONEY MARKETS-Short-term bank lending rates at new lows

* Liquidity abundant, money markets see offers

* Euro Libor, NYFR at new lows

* BoE asset purchase programs near end

* Some signs of lending pick-up seen in eurozone (Adds NYFR fixings, changes byline, dateline from LONDON)

By Ellen Freilich

NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Rates on short-term money banks lend to each other reached new lows on Tuesday as central banks kept the banking system flush with funds, according to LIBOR and ICAP's New York Funding Rates.

The one-month New York Funding Rate (NYFR) was fixed at 0.2420 percent, easing from 0.2444 on Monday, said ICAP.

The three-month NYFR was fixed at 0.2915 percent, easing from 0.2931 percent on Monday.

That compared with three-month dollar Libor rates USD3MFSR= which held at lows of 0.28063 percent. Equivalent sterling rates GBP3MFSR= paused at 0.59375 percent.

The NYFR rates were lower than those in place before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008.

Short-term bank lending rates shot up sharply in September and October 2008 as Lehman collapsed, banks panicked at counterparty risk, and lending markets froze.

Even as rates fell for short-term lending among banks, however, loans to households and firms in the euro zone fell for the first time on a year-on-year basis since records began in 1991 despite European Central Bank lending banks billions of euros of extra funds and urging them to lend to customers.

However, some analysts say lending is down not only because banks have taken a more cautious approach to lending, but also because excess capacity means businesses do not need to borrow to expansion and households are trying to cut down on debt.

On a monthly basis, however, eurozone lending rose slightly.

Investors have watched money markets closely since the financial crisis last year, looking for signs that banks will begin to lend more, but the ECB's data may be a better indicator of whether funds are reaching the real economy.

"I'm not sure it will push the ECB that much (to begin its exit strategy), but it clearly tells you that that things are recovering both in terms of the real economy and the monetary data in a fairly consistent manner," said Neville Hill, an economist at Credit Suisse.