The Federal Reserve quietly lost a fortune in 2023 as interest it pays out to banks swamped the interest it earns on its bond portfolio, data released by the central bank Friday showed.
The Fed said it lost roughly $114.3 billion in 2023, its largest-ever annual loss.
The losses occurred because the money the Fed pays banks for reserves held at the central bank exceeded the interest earned on the mortgage and Treasury bonds it holds. The Fed has been raising the interest rate paid on reserves alongside the hikes on the benchmark federal funds rate to stem the worst inflation in forty years.
The losses would be even greater if the Fed included the decline in market value of its bond holdings. But because those are held to maturity, they are not recorded as operating losses.
