Fed Pauses Reserve-Management Treasury Purchases for a Second Straight Month
The Federal Reserve said Monday it will go a second consecutive month without buying U.S. Treasuries for reserve-management purposes in the upcoming operating period, a sign that policymakers view reserve levels in the banking system as appropriate. The New York Fed’s open market trading desk said it does not plan reserve-management purchases during the monthly period running through Oct. 14, though it still expects to conduct about $15.6 billion in reinvestment purchases over the same window. According to the report, the move points to confidence in money-market conditions rather than a shift in the Fed’s broader policy stance. That view is reflected in the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, or SOFR, which has spent most of the past month near or below the Interest on Reserve Balances rate. The report also noted that the U.S. Treasury has reduced bill supply ahead of the quarterly tax payment deadline. It added that reserve-management purchases are meant to fine-tune reserve levels in the banking system and are not the same as traditional quantitative easing, while mortgage-backed securities reinvestment operations continue as part of balance-sheet management.



