Economics
Fed Expands Muni Loan Program to Include Smaller Borrowers
- Emergency program can support up to $500 billion in lending
- Illinois says it is first to tap facility with $1.2 bln credit
Residents carrying grocery bags board a bus in New Rochelle, New York, on March 16.
Photographer: Angus Mordant/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The Federal Reserve is expanding a $500 billion emergency lending program for state and local governments to include smaller borrowers, following concern that some needy communities might miss out.
“Under the new terms, all U.S. states will be able to have at least two cities or counties eligible to directly issue notes” to the Fed’s Municipal Liquidity Facility, “regardless of population,” the U.S. central bank said in a statement Wednesday.