Fed Pumps More Money Into Financial Markets

Central bank loans $200 billion to big investment firms to promote liquidity. But measures aren't prompting banks to increase lending.

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday announced yet another measure to pump more liquidity into the jittery financial markets.

The program will lend up to $200 billion of Treasurys to primary dealers, a group of 20 big investment firms, for a 28-day term. The firms can put up as collateral mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which generally are seen as safe because of an implicit government guarantee.

But in an unusual move, AAA-rated mortgage securities issued by banks will also be accepted. Many investors have shied away from these mortgage-backed securities because they fear defaults in the underlying assets will erode the value.

Coordination

The effort, which is being done in conjunction with other central banks in Canada and Europe, is designed to promote trading in these markets that have frozen up, experts said. The measure allows banks to temporarily get these illiquid securities off their books.

"They are providing liquidity to keep the deterioration of that market from bringing down the broader economy," said Ian Lyngen, interest rate strategist with RBS Greenwich Capital.

Also Tuesday, the Fed announced that 82 banks submitted $92.6 billion in bids in its $50 billion auction held the day before. The Fed last week said it was increasing the auction sizes.

Lending stays slow

But despite the eagerness to accept the government's "liquidity" injections, banks aren't significantly increasing their lending, experts said. In fact, some banks seem to be pulling back even further - for example, Citigroup Inc.'s last week said that it will scale back its mortgage business.

"It's still not enough to get the banks to loosen their lending terms," said Walker Todd, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research and former attorney and economist at the New York Fed, referring to the last week's measures.

Banks have already borrowed a total of $160 billion since the Fed started holding these auctions in December as a way to ease the credit crunch, which began last year when mortgage defaults and foreclosures began to skyrocket. Since then, the crisis has extended far beyond the residential home loans, roiling the markets for everything from municipal bonds to student loans to auto financing.

Fed ups limit

After a particularly tough week in the credit markets, when even the value of formerly golden securities backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were called into question, the Fed announced Friday that it was upping the amount that would be available at the next two auctions to $50 billion, from $30 billion, and would continue to hold more rounds for at least six months.

In addition, the Fed said starting Monday it would hold a series of 28-day term repurchase transactions aimed at the primary dealers totaling $100 billion. Much as the banks have for the auctions, firms jumped on the opportunity, seeking $52.2 billion, though only $15 billion is being made available in the first round.

These moves "indicate a deepening sense of anxiety on the part of the Fed," said Tom Schlesinger, executive director of the Financial Markets Center, which studies the central bank.

To be sure, the auctions are easing the credit crunch to some degree. Some financial institutions may use the Fed funds to replace money they could have raised by packaging bundles of mortgages and selling them as securities or by borrowing from other banks, said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's. Banks are also increasing their lending to one another.

Also, the Fed is allowing banks to use as collateral mortgage-backed securities from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, allowing them to trade securities of faltering value for cash.

But that doesn't mean the banks are, in turn, doling out the dough to consumers. Some are holding onto the funds to shore up their balance sheets, experts said. The firms can use the money to buy Treasurys, giving them a steadier stream of earnings than loans, Schlesinger said.

A main reason the Fed's measures aren't having a big impact on lending is because the problem with the markets isn't a liquidity crisis, but a psychological one, said Barry Ritholtz, chief executive of FusionIQ, an asset management firm.

Fears remain

Banks are shying away from offering credit because they fear the rising defaults, and they aren't buying securities backed by loans because they are unsure of the quality of the underlying assets. Even high-quality borrowers could run into trouble if the economy continues to tank.

"The Fed can't make banks lend," Ritholtz said.

Also, the Fed's moves aren't helping an ever greater problem facing many banks: A lack of sufficient capital. A measure of a bank's strength, capital levels indicate the institution's ability to absorb losses. As the value of assets backed by mortgages and other loans plummets, banks have had to raise capital by selling off operations or stakes in their companies.

Another way banks can improve their capital standing is to reduce the amount of loans they keep on their books. Citigroup, for instance, last week called for reducing its loan portfolio by 20% and cut the amount of new loans held on its balance sheet by half.

It's pressures such as these that prevent the Fed's efforts from having a great impact on the credit crunch. "The Fed's liquidity measures are inadequate to address a capital crisis," Todd said.