The central bank may provide more details on its lending programs and may also fill in some specifics about its Treasury-buying program, which is now essentially unlimited. Two weeks ago, as part of a US$2.3 trillion lending program, the Fed said it would, for the first time, buy municipal bonds issued by state and local governments, up to US$500 billion. It also unveiled a Main Street Lending Program, which will also for the first time lend US$600 billion to medium-sized companies of up 10,000 employees. The loans are intended to support mostly companies that are too large for the government’s small business lending program, which targets those with fewer than 500 workers. “The further the Fed pushes, the more issues it is likely to unearth,” said Mark Vitner, an economist at Wells Fargo.

Source: The Standard April 28, 2020 05:03 UTC