(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve further slowed the pace at which it plans to buy Treasuries under the unlimited program that began in March.
The U.S. central bank, which has bought more than $1.5 trillion of Treasuries in daily operations over eight weeks in an effort to restore smooth market functioning during the coronavirus pandemic, on Friday said it would buy securities at a pace of about $7 billion a day May 11-15. It bought at a pace of around $8 billion a day this week.
The Treasury purchase operations began March 13 and peaked in size at $75 billion per day from March 19 to April 1. The pace was subsequently reduced in stages.
There will be one or two operations each day, targeting either nominal Treasuries or inflation-protected securities, according to the schedule.
Here is the history of the parameters of the Treasury purchase program executed by the New York Fed:
| Approximate daily target | Operations/day | |
|---|---|---|
| May 4-8 | $8 billion | 1-2 |
| April 27-May 1 | $10 billion | 1-2 |
| April 20-24 | $15 billion | 2 |
| April 13-17 | $30 billion | 4 |
| April 6-9 | $50 billion | 5-6 |
| April 2-3 | $60 billion | 7 |
| March 19-April 1 | $75 billion | 6-7 |
| March 18 | $45 billion | 7 |
| March 16-17 | $40 billion | 6 |
| March 13 | $37 billion | 6 |
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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