(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve’s massive stash of bonds and other assets shrank for a fourth straight week, slipping back below $7 trillion, and use of one of its key emergency liquidity measures dropped to zero for the first time since September, data released by the central bank on Thursday showed.
The Fed’s total balance sheet size declined by about $88 billion to $6.97 trillion as of July 8 versus $7.06 trillion a week earlier. The balance of outstanding repurchase agreements – or repos – fell to zero from $61.2 billion a week earlier and marked the first time in 10 months that banks have not tapped the Fed for this key source of short-term funding.
(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Chris Reese)
