Effective March 23, 2020, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) directed the Open Market Trading Desk (the Desk) at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to increase the System Open Market Account (SOMA) holdings of Treasury securities and agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS) in the amounts needed to support the smooth functioning of markets for Treasury securities and agency MBS. The FOMC also directed the Desk to purchase agency commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).
Consistent with this directive, the Desk has updated its plans regarding purchases of Treasury securities and agency MBS during the week of March 23, 2020. Specifically, the Desk plans to conduct operations totaling approximately $75 billion of Treasury securities and approximately $50 billion of agency MBS each business day this week, subject to reasonable prices. The Desk will begin agency CMBS purchases this week.
The Desk stands ready to adjust the size and composition of its purchase operations as appropriate to support the smooth functioning of the Treasury, agency MBS, and agency CMBS markets.
Detailed information on the purchase schedules for Treasury securities and agency MBS can be found on the Treasury Securities Operational Details and Agency MBS Operation Schedule pages, respectively. Additional details on eligible securities and the overall size and scope of agency CMBS purchases will be released in coming days.