US Treasury Secy asks Fed to return unused emergency lending funds

Washington, Nov 20 : US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has asked the Federal Reserve to end five emergency Covid-19 lending facilities and return $455 billion of unused funds.
“I am requesting that the Federal Reserve return the unused funds to the Treasury,” Mnuchin wrote in a letter to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Thursday.
“This will allow Congress to re-appropriate $455 billion, consisting of $429 billion in excess Treasury funds for the Federal Reserve facilities and $26 billion in unused Treasury direct loan funds,” he added.
In March, Congress approved a $2.2 trillion Covid-19 relief bill known as the CARES Act, which provided the Treasury around $500 billion to set up a variety of emergency lending facilities through the Fed and guarantee loans, reports Xinhua news agency.
Mnuchin said in the letter that these emergency lending facilities, which are set to expire at the end of the year, “have clearly achieved their objective”.
“While portions of economy are still severely impacted and in need of additional support, financial conditions have responded and the use of these facilities has been limited,” he said.