The Fed Reports Losses From Interest Rate Hikes. The United States central bank or Federal Reserve (The Fed) reported a record loss of $ 114.3 billion due to its policy of increasing the benchmark interest rate throughout 2023.
The Fed posted a loss of US$114.3 billion or around in 2023. In fact, the Fed made a revenue profit of US$ 58, 8 in 2022.These losses are related to the spike in interest expenses faced by the Fed amid its policy of increasing interest rates in its efforts to reduce US inflation to its 2% target.
The Fed Reports Losses From Interest Rate Hikes. As you may know, the Fed paid a number of financial institutions US $281.1 billion last year. This figure has almost tripled compared to US$102.4 billion in 2022 (year-on-year/yoy).
Meanwhile, interest received from bonds held by the central bank reached US$163.8 billion last year, compared to US $170 billion in 2022 (yoy). The Fed said operational spending at 12 regional banks, which are quasi-private institutions overseen by the Fed’s Board of Governors, will reach US $5.5 billion in 2023.
The US central bank also pays interest to banks, financial companies and other money managers who qualify to put cash on the central bank’s books as part of the way the central bank implements monetary policy and controls short-term interest rates.
The Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes, which began in spring 2022 when the Fed’s interest rate target was at a near zero level, pushed rates all the way to 5.25%-5.5% by the December 2023 FOMC meeting. The collective impact of the actions This ended the Fed’s streak of strong profitability.
