Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Joplin, one year after
May 22 marks the one year anniversary of a deadly tornado that ripped through Joplin, Missouri, killing 161 people. Slideshow
Fed balance sheet hits another record size
The U.S. Federal Reserve Building is pictured in Washington, January 26, 2010.
Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed
NEW YORK |
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's balance sheet expanded to a record size in the latest week, as the central bank bought more bonds in an effort to support the economy, Fed data released on Thursday showed.
The purchase was part of its $600 billion program, dubbed QE2, aimed at stimulating investment and economic activity.
The balance sheet -- a broad gauge of Fed lending to the financial system -- expanded to $2.759 trillion in the week ended May 25 from $2.742 trillion the prior week.
The central bank's holding of U.S. government securities grew to $1.519 trillion on Wednesday from last week's $1.495 trillion total.
The central bank has signaled it will complete QE2 at the end of June, but will continue to reinvest proceeds from the bonds as they mature.
The Fed's ownership of mortgage bonds guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) fell to $917.86 billion, from $923.58 billion the previous week.
The Fed's holdings of debt issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank system declined to $119.09 billion from $120.76 billion a week earlier.
The Fed's overnight direct loans to credit-worthy banks via its discount window averaged $11 million a day in the week ended Wednesday, compared with an average daily rate of $3 million last week.
(Reporting by Karen Brettell; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
- Tweet this
- Link this
- Share this
- Digg this
- Reprints
But we didn’t allow companies to fail. Instead we kicked the can down the road, and there is dead wood everywhere, festering. The balance sheet of the Fed is just one example of rottening dead wood.
This is what the Republicans did for America during the 8 years of unfettered, cowboy banker corruption during Bush’s reign.
We’re now walking along the narrow precipice above another bursting bubble.
I’ve finally realized that there is no such thing. It’s just a rhetorical figure of speech.
An old OECD web page suggests as much. It says, “. . . in practice, very few governments prepare statements of their financial position that could be described as balance sheets”.
Follow Reuters