U.S. banks borrowed almost $165 billion from the Federal Reserve in the past week after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, according to data released Thursday.
Financial institutions borrowed $153 billion through the Fed’s existing emergency loan program. And another $11.9 billion was borrowed through a new Bank Term Funding Program established by the central bank.
The borrowing is a sign of stress in the U.S. financial system.
Regulators stepped in over the weekend to set up the loan program so other banks would not be forced to sell assets if depositors moved to take their money out.
That was what happened to Silicon Valley Bank last week.
Under the Fed’s program, banks can lend bonds to the Fed at par, or face value, for cash to pay depositors.
In addition to those two loan programs, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. made $143 billion in credit available to Silicon Valley Bank and another failed bank, Signature Bank of New York.
The Fed’s total balance sheet rose by $297 billion in the past week to $8.64 trillion. The Fed has been trying to steadily shrink its balance sheet under a quantitative-tightening program set up last year.
