At the New York Fed, our mission is to make the U.S. economy stronger and the financial system more stable for all segments of society. We do this by executing monetary policy, providing financial services, supervising banks and conducting research and providing expertise on issues that impact the nation and communities we serve.
Repurchase and reverse repurchase operations—or “repo and reverse repo” transactions—are critical to the Federal Reserve’s implementation of monetary policy. Alongside a broader suite of open market operations, these transactions influence interest rates and support smooth market functioning by helping to maintain the federal funds rate well within the target range set by the Federal Open Market Committee.
In remarks in Albany on June 24, New York Fed President John C. Williams discussed what recent soft data and hard data reveal about the U.S economy, and how the totality of the data is informing his economic outlook.
The continued unwinding of large central bank balance sheets in the post-pandemic period and its impact on financial markets and the broader economy have presented several policy and monetary policy implementation questions in the U.S. and abroad. To help address this, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs hosted a workshop on “Unwinding Large Central Bank Balance Sheets” in May. The workshop’s three panels brought together academics, industry and public policy experts, and current and former central bankers. In this article, we highlight the main themes from the day’s discussions.
As the director of research at the New York Fed, I lead a team that intensively studies the economy. In addition to evaluating monetary policy and labor markets, our team works to better understand topics including financial market function, supply chain constraints, hybrid work, student loan delinquencies, and housing starts.
Growth, uncertainty, and opportunity were the recurring themes during an April visit to Puerto Rico by New York Fed President John C. Williams. This regional visit—part of the New York Fed’s ongoing efforts to assess economic conditions across the Federal Reserve’s Second District—gave President Williams an opportunity to engage directly on issues specific to the Island.
Roberto Perli, manager of the Federal Reserve’s System Open Market Account (SOMA), spoke at the Eighth Short-Term Funding Markets Conference at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. on May 9.
The 45 high school teachers had questions for Andrew Haughwout, the New York Fed’s deputy director of research.
In remarks at a Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce event on April 11, New York Fed President John C. Williams discussed the economy and monetary policy in the context of a changing and uncertain landscape. He also talked about inflation expectations and how the Federal Reserve is working to achieve its dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability, and shared observations about Puerto Rico’s economy.
The Treasury Market Practices Group (TMPG), a New York Fed-sponsored group of market professionals, recently released a white paper and proposed recommendations on margin practices for repurchase agreements, or repos, involving U.S. Treasury securities. The white paper, based on discussions with market participants and data from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research, describes the current risk management practices in the Treasury repo market for mitigating counterparty risk exposures, or the potential losses from a counterparty defaulting before final settlement of a financial transaction. It also identifies the resulting risk and resiliency issues. Based on this work, the proposed updates to the TMPG’s Best Practices include a recommendation that all Treasury repo trades should include prudent haircuts, or margin, on the value of the securities, in concert with other risk management techniques. In this article, we highlight the main findings of the white paper that led to this proposed best practice recommendation, with a focus on the non-centrally cleared bilateral repo market.
In early December, New York Fed President John C. Williams spent a day visiting neighborhoods in the New York City borough of Queens. In Long Island City, Flushing, and East Elmhurst, President Williams and a team from the New York Fed met with leaders in government, transportation, community development, and business. This regional visit—part of the New York Fed’s ongoing efforts to assess economic conditions across the Federal Reserve’s Second District—gave President Williams an opportunity to engage directly on issues specific to these communities.
