Search Results
Report
Uptake of the Main Street Lending Program
The Main Street Lending Program (Main Street) was one of several new credit facilities launched by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Reserve published draft terms for Main Street on April 9, 2020, and the program started purchasing loan participations on July 6, 2020, with the goal of supporting lending to a wide range of small and medium-sized businesses that were in sound financial condition before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the program’s draft terms were first circulated, pandemic-related ...
Report
How Did the MSLP Borrowers Fare Before and During COVID-19?
This policy brief uses Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) data to assess whether the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) borrowers were in worse financial health than their peers before COVID-19 hit the economy hard in March 2020 or suffered worse deterioration afterward. The findings can help us better understand why these firms sought to obtain MSLP loans. We find that MSLP borrowers tend to be larger than their peer firms (that is, firms in the same industry and state). Within the same size group, MSLP borrowers are on average younger than their peers. Borrowers tended to have a slightly higher ...
Speech
Implementing the Fed’s Facilities: Moving at Maximum Speed with Maximum Care
Remarks before the Money Marketeers of New York University (delivered via audio webinar).
Speech
The Main Street Lending Program and Other Federal Reserve Actions
The economy has suffered a truly severe shock from the COVID-19 public health crisis. The unemployment rate has risen very significantly in response to necessary shutdowns intending to limit the health impact of the pandemic. However, even when businesses are free to open, many may face diminished demand until customers once again feel secure leaving their homes, which underlines that public health is at the root of this crisis and its solutions.
Speech
The Economy’s Outlook, Challenges, and Way Forward
President Rosengren’s comments were delivered at the Massachusetts Bankers Association’s New England Conference, and were based on a speech he delivered on September 23, 2020 to the Boston Economic Club.
Report
A Helping Hand to Main Street Where and When It Was Needed
This paper investigates the lending activity of the Main Street Lending Program, which the Federal Reserve established at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. Main Street was the largest (by total principal outstanding) of the Federal Reserve's emergency credit and liquidity facilities. The authors find fairly robust evidence that Main Street accomplished its key goal of directing more funds where and when they were most needed. Businesses located in states with more severe declines in commercial activity (as proxied by mobility indicators) and higher infection rates obtained a ...
Speech
An Update on the Economy and the Main Street Lending Program
Today I would like to speak with you about the pandemic, its effects on the economy, the implications for Federal Reserve policymaking, and some of the steps that the Fed is taking to address the crisis and mitigate its financial impact on American households and businesses.
Speech
The COVID-19 Pandemic, the Economic Outlook, and the Main Street Lending Program
Unfortunately, the economic outlook is being driven by the course of the pandemic, and much depends on how successfully it can be contained, either through public health or medical innovations. The forecast for the U.S. economy this fall is quite uncertain, but President Rosengren's view is that the recent slowdown in economic activity that we have seen in high frequency data is likely to continue. Currently, we have an unemployment rate above 10 percent, and because of the continued community spread of the virus, he is concerned that the pandemic will limit the ability of the economy to ...
Speech
Prepared Testimony for the Congressional Oversight Commission
President Rosengren spoke about the operationalization of the Federal Reserve’s Main Street Lending Program, a facility authorized by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System under section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act, with approval of the Secretary of the Treasury. The Department of the Treasury committed to make an equity investment of $75 billion in the Program – and the funds available for investment by the Treasury were appropriated to the Exchange Stabilization Fund under section 4027 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). ...
Speech
Panel Remarks: The Fed and Main Street during the Coronavirus Pandemic
Panel Remarks at The Fed and Main Street during the Coronavirus Pandemic, WebEx event, April 23, 2020.