Commercial Paper 81+ Days Maturity Jumps To $38.2 Billion Monday - Fed
29 April 2009 - 12:53AM
Dow Jones News
The amount of commercial paper maturing in 81 days or more
jumped to $38.2 billion on Monday, according to Federal Reserve
data released Tuesday.
That happened in a week when three-month debt extended by the
central bank directly to U.S. companies is beginning to mature.
Market participants hope to see a decline in the bank's holdings in
its Commercial Paper Funding Facility as that would signal
companies are able to meet their funding needs through
investors.
On Friday, the level outstanding of commercial paper in the 81
days or more category was $6.03 billion.
Companies rely on this market for their short-term funding needs
like rent and payroll.
Approximately $125 billion worth of three-month financing
provided through the Fed's program comes due this week, according
to Wrightson ICAPestimates.
The Fed held $242.43 billion of top-rated commercial paper in
the facility as of last week, down from about $334 billion at the
end of 2008.
The facility was set up after the $1.47 trillion
commercial-paper market froze last year when investors, primarily
money-market funds, fled as they feared redemptions from
investors.
-By Anusha Shrivastava, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2371;
anusha.shrivastava@dowjones.com