No. 2200

THURSDAY, MARCH 23, 2000

NY FED USE OF EXPANDED
COLLATERAL EXTENDED BY FOMC

NEW YORK -- On March 21, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to approve a temporary extension through January 2001 of the expanded list of securities eligible as collateral in repurchase transactions undertaken by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) in the management of banking system reserves.

At its August 24, 1999 meeting, the FOMC had approved the use of an expanded list of eligible collateral in order to improve the FRBNY's ability to address expanded reserve needs anticipated for the fourth quarter of 1999. At that time, the FOMC agreed to review the FRBNY's experience with the expanded range of eligible collateral prior to the expiration of the authorization in April of this year. At its March 21 meeting, the FOMC did review that experience and voted to extend temporarily the FRBNY's ability to accept the broader list of eligible collateral.