Politi: Fed adds $47.4bn to Treasury coffers

The Federal Reserve sent $47.4bn of its 2009 profits to the US Treasury, a record payment that highlights how the US central bank was able to turn its huge intervention to rescue the financial system into a successful investment.

In annual results released yesterday, the Fed said earnings rose 50 per cent last year to $53.4bn (€40bn, £34.7bn), driven mainly by profits incurred from interest revenues on the extensive portfolio of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) it bought to prop up the stricken housing market...Over the past decade or so, Fed repayments to the Treasury have averaged about $25bn per year, US central bank officials said.