WASHINGTON The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday that it contributed $76.9 billion in profits to the Treasury Department last year, slightly less than its record 2010 transfer but much more than in any other previous year.
The Fed is required by law to turn over its profits to the Treasury each year, a highly lucrative byproduct of the central banks continuing campaign to stimulate economic growth.
Almost 97 percent of the Feds income was generated by interest payments on its investment portfolio, including $2.5 trillion in Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities, which it has amassed in an effort to decrease borrowing costs for businesses and consumers by reducing long-term interest rates.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/b...eturns-77-billion-in-profits-to-treasury.html
The Fed is required by law to turn over its profits to the Treasury each year, a highly lucrative byproduct of the central banks continuing campaign to stimulate economic growth.
Almost 97 percent of the Feds income was generated by interest payments on its investment portfolio, including $2.5 trillion in Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities, which it has amassed in an effort to decrease borrowing costs for businesses and consumers by reducing long-term interest rates.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/b...eturns-77-billion-in-profits-to-treasury.html
