Fed Extends Emergency Loan Program for Wall Street

Bernanke offers several options for cash-strapped firms
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 30, 2008 11:09 AM CDT
Fed Extends Emergency Loan Program for Wall Street
Sitting down for a meeting on the home foreclosure crisis are, left to right, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Steve Preston, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 29, 2008....   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Federal Reserve today extended its emergency borrowing program for Wall Street firms through Jan. 30. Originally the program, through which investment houses can tap the central bank for a quick source of cash, was supposed to last until mid-September. Another program, where banks can temporarily swap more risky investments for Treasury securities, also will continue through Jan. 30.

And the Fed will also let commercial banks, in a separate program, bid on cash loans that last longer—for 84 days—in addition to the 28-day loans now available. The Fed said it was taking these steps "in light of continued fragile circumstances in financial markets," and they would be withdrawn when and if conditions in financial markets are "no longer unusual and exigent." (More Federal Reserve stories.)

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