When Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act on March 27, 2020, it allocated $500 billion to the Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF), $454 billion of which was for the Treasury Secretary to support Federal Reserve lending facilities. The Secretary committed $195 billion of these funds to provide credit support to some of the programs the Fed set up under its Section 13(3) emergency lending authority. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 signed into law on December 27 definitively closed these facilities and rescinded funds “not needed to meet the commitments, as of January 9, 2021, of the programs and facilities established.”
Continue reading “How Available Is the ESF for New Fed Facilities?”