FRB Chair Powell Describes Recent Actions to Support the Economy

Federal Reserve Board ("FRB") Chair Jerome H. Powell described emergency measures taken to facilitate the flow of credit in the economy for borrowers.

In a speech at the Brookings Institution, Mr. Powell highlighted actions to provide financial support to those affected by COVID-19. The FRB:

• lowered interest rates to almost zero in order to minimize borrowing costs; and

• taken steps to safeguard financial markets as a means to provide stability to the financial system and facilitate the flow of credit in the economy.

Chair Powell emphasized that the FRB's recently enacted programs to support the flow of credit are authorized pursuant to its lending powers in extraordinary circumstances and only with the consent of the Secretary of the Treasury. He stressed that while many borrowers will benefit from the FRB's programs, there are also many entities that are in need of direct fiscal support that the FRB is not authorized to provide.