Banks Reduce Borrowing From Fed In Latest Week

December 29, 2008 7:49 p.m. EST

Washington, DC (AHN) - The amount of daily borrowing by financial institutions from the Fed's emergency lending facility fell roughly $15.5 billion for the week ended Dec. 24, compared to a week ago.

According to the Fed, average daily borrowing by banks on a whole totaled $196.87 billion, down from $212.53 billion for the week ended Dec. 17.

Borrowing by investment banks fell as well, averaging $45.7 billion in daily borrowing for the week ended Dec. 24, compared to $50.5 billion the week before.

For the week, average daily borrowing by commercial banks was $86.3 billion, down from $88.4 billion.

Borrowing by commercial banks from the Fed's emergency window fell $2.1 billion for the week, compared to the week ended Dec. 17.

Although the daily average fell for the week, borrowing still remains high as financial institutions lean on the Fed as a last-minute lender.

The Fed also reported that total liabilities on its balance sheet fell to $2.241 trillion for the week ended Dec. 24, from $2.295 trillion a week ago.