NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Treasury Department said Thursday that it will shrink its supplementary financing program with the Federal Reserve to preserve its flexibility as the country nears the current debt ceiling. The move will effectively put more excess reserves into the banking system, a Treasury official said. The government had been issuing the short-term bills to deposit proceeds at the Fed to help the central bank manage its monetary policy. As the current bills mature, they will not be rolled over, letting the account dwindle to about $5 billion from about $200 billion. The U.S. has about $14.015 billion in outstanding debt subject to the debt limit of $14.294 billion.
Earlier this month, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the U.S. could hit that debt ceiling as early as the end of March, or at least by mid-May. Last year, the Treasury Department expanded the SFP program after Congress increased the debt limit.
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Today's economic data...and a few more links...
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Durable goods fall 2.5% in Dec.
Excluding transportation, orders up 0.5%
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-durable-goods-orders-fall-25-in-dec-2011-01-27
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New-home sales rise to 329,000 in December
Pace reclaims highest since April, but housing market still weak
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-new-home-sales-reach-329000-rate-in-december-2011-01-26
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WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — New applications for U.S. jobless benefits jumped by 51,000 to 454,000 last week, partly because poor weather caused administrative backlogs in four Southern states, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/weekly-jobless-claims-jump-51000-2011-01-27
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Lawmakers, Treasury clash on ‘too-big-to-fail’
Obama loan-modification effort, bank servicers come under fire
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Lawmakers and a key government overseer clashed with a top Treasury Department official Wednesday over the long-lasting implications of the agency’s response to the financial crisis and whether “too-big-to-fail” banks still put the system at peril.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lawmakers-treasury-clash-on-too-big-to-fail-2011-01-26
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Government, banks to blame for crisis: FCIC panel
Years of deregulation and bank self-regulation cited for meltdown
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The financial and economic crisis that shook the economy to the brink in September 2008 was caused by failures of “30 years of deregulation” and a banking industry eager to trade in toxic subprime mortgages but blind to the attendant dangers, according to the conclusions of a federal fact-finding panel released on Thursday.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/government-banks-to-blame-for-crisis-panel-2011-01-27
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Google is in the energy business.
Ground zero for the carbon tax is Boston and Chicago.
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2011/01/googles_hiring.html?p1=News_links
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