WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 13: The seal of the Federal Reserve Board is seen outside its William McChesney Martin Building as they joined other government financial institutions to bail out Silicon Valley Bank's account holders after it collapsed on March 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Joe Biden tried to assure the public that the U.S. banking industry was safe following SVB's collapse and after New York regulators' forced closure of Signature Bank. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The U.S. Federal Reserve is working with other central banks around the world to ensure dollars are available to stop any liquidity issues related to the ongoing crisis in the banking sector.
The central bank on Sunday said it has extended its agreements with the Bank of England, Bank of Japan, European Central Bank, Bank of Canada, and the Swiss National Bank to provide U.S. dollar swap lines.
These agreements essentially allow the Fed to pump U.S. dollars into foreign banks by purchasing other currencies in bulk. The Fed first launched them during the Great Financial Crisis to ease strains in the global funding market.
“To improve the swap lines’ effectiveness in providing U.S. dollar funding, the central banks currently offering U.S. dollar operations have agreed to increase the frequency of seven-day maturity operations from weekly to daily,” the Fed said in a statement.
These operations began on Monday morning and will continue through April.
Stocks fell in the opening session Tuesday as earnings reports continued to pour in and as investors brace for the Federal Reserve's interest-rate decision on Wednesday.
A flow of recent data from the U.S. government has made one thing strikingly clear: A surge in consumer spending is fueling strong growth, demonstrating a resilience that has confounded economists, Federal Reserve officials and even the sour sentiments that Americans themselves have expressed in opinion polls.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning parents and caregivers not to buy or serve certain pureed fruit pouches marketed to toddlers and young children because the food might contain dangerous levels of lead.
