NEW YORK: The Federal Reserve bought $12.2 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities from May 23 through May 29, less than the $15.3 billion it purchased last week, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Thursday.
In a move to help the housing market, since October 2011 the US central bank has been using funds from principal payments on the agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, or MBS, it holds to reinvest in agency MBS.
The New York Fed said on its website the Fed sold no mortgage securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae, in the latest week. It sold none the prior week.
Last Sept. 14, the Fed increased its purchases of MBS to $40 billion a month in its third round of large-scale bond buying in an attempt to support the housing recovery and boost economic growth.
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