By Kristina Peterson and Sarah Portlock
WASHINGTON--The U.S. Federal Reserve's balance sheet declined
over the past week, as the central bank continued with its
easy-money policy.
The Fed's asset holdings in the week ended Dec. 26 decreased to
$2.909 trillion, down from $2.922 trillion a week earlier, it said
in a weekly report released Thursday.
The Fed's holdings of U.S. Treasury securities edged down to
$1.657 trillion on Wednesday from $1.659 trillion a week earlier.
The central bank's holdings of mortgage-backed securities fell to
$926.56 billion from $933.39 billion a week ago.
The Fed's portfolio has tripled since the financial crisis of
2008 and 2009 as the central bank bought government bonds and
mortgage-backed securities in an effort to keep interest rates low
and to stimulate the economy.
In September the Fed began buying $40 billion a month of
additional mortgage-backed securities on an open-ended basis. Fed
officials reiterated earlier this month that they plan to continue
buying mortgage bonds, as well as $45 billion of long-term
Treasurys each month, until the labor market improves
significantly.
Thursday's report showed total borrowing from the Fed's discount
lending window was $613 million Wednesday, down from $864 million a
week earlier.
Commercial banks borrowed $26 million Wednesday, down from $34
million a week earlier.
U.S. government securities held in custody on behalf of foreign
official accounts rose to $3.238 trillion, up from $3.234 trillion
in the previous week.
U.S. Treasurys held in custody on behalf of foreign official
accounts increased to $2.891 trillion, up from $2.883 trillion in
the previous week.
Holdings of agency securities fell to $311.05 billion, down from
the prior week's $315.20 billion.
Further data on the Fed's balance sheet, including a breakdown
of district-by-district discount window borrowing, can be found at
http://federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/current/h41.pdf.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@dowjones.com and
Sarah Portlock at sarah.portlock@dowjones.com