Fed Plans Liquidity Injection

The New York Federal Reserve is taking action through open market operations to shore up liquidity in the financial system as banks and other financial institutions feel the year-end pinch of capital reserve requirements.

The Fed announced it will respond to "heightened pressures in money markets for funding through year-end," with a series of repurchase agreements that are more long-term than usual. The first, announced Monday, is an $8 billion, 52-day operation. Details and timing of additional operations through the rest of the year are not yet available. Typically the Fed puts liquidity into the system in 14-day increments.

"Given the high level of attention focused on the coming year end, we hope to reassure market participants of our commitment to providing sufficient balances at that time by starting to provide those balances now," said a Fed official. ...