Discussion Paper

Federal Reserve Liquidity Facilities Gross $22 Billion for U.S. Taxpayers

Abstract: During the 2007-09 crisis, the Federal Reserve took many measures to mitigate disruptions in financial markets, including the introduction or expansion of liquidity facilities. Many studies have found that the Fed’s lending via the facilities helped stabilize financial markets. In addition, because the Fed’s loans were well collateralized and generally priced at a premium to the cost of funds, they had another, less widely noted benefit: they made money for U.S. taxpayers. In this post, I bring information together from various sources and time periods to show that the facilities generated $21.7 billion in interest and fee income.

Keywords: Federal Reserve; Liquidity Facilities; crisis; lenders of last resort;

JEL Classification: E5; G1;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Part of Series: Liberty Street Economics

Publication Date: 2012-11-07

Number: 20121107