Journal Article

The Fed Is Shrinking Its Balance Sheet. What Does That Mean?

Abstract: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in early March 2020, the Fed quickly stepped in to limit the economic fallout. It reduced its interest rate target to near zero and purchased large quantities of U.S. Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities (MBS) by injecting reserves into the banking system. As a result of these purchases, the size of the Fed's balance sheet more than doubled from about $4 trillion prior to the pandemic to nearly $9 trillion at the start of 2022.

Keywords: quantitative easing; quantitative tightening; interest rates;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Part of Series: Econ Focus

Publication Date: 2022

Volume: 22

Issue: 3Q

Pages: 4-7