Speech

Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum Fed Week Financial Stability Session

Abstract: Short-term credit markets have been disrupted in the past two recessions, and significant risks remain. For example, prime money market mutual funds and stablecoins bear attention. Substantial emergency actions were necessary to support lending during the pandemic, and the economy would benefit from being less dependent on ad hoc measures in crises. A properly implemented Countercyclical Capital Buffer, or CCyB, would help avoid some of these issues. Unfortunately, emergency facilities do well supporting large firms but are challenged somewhat to reach small firms. Without better facilities for small firms, the situation will increase economic concentration. Housing prices have played a role in financial stability problems in the past, so recent housing price trends should be monitored closely by policymakers.

Keywords: financial stability; credit; CCyB; emergency lending facilities; housing markets; Main Street Lending Program; money market mutual funds; MMLF;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Part of Series: Speech

Publication Date: 2021-06-25