Federal Reserve Banks transfers to the U.S. Treasury were down $33 billion in 2022 compared to the previous year, the Fed said Friday in releasing its 2022 combined annual audited financial statements for the Reserve Banks.
Still, the agency said, $76 billion was transferred from weekly earnings last year, compared to $109 billion in 2021, the agency said – partly because, the Fed said, that in the fall the banks first suspended weekly remittances to the Treasury and began accumulating a deferred asset, which totaled $16.6 billion by the end of the year.
According to the central bank, a deferred asset has no implications for its conduct of monetary policy, its operations, or its ability to meet its financial obligations.
The Fed said other details in the audited financial statements from the banks included:
- Earnings were approximately $58.8 billion in 2022, representing a decrease of $49.1 billion from 2021;
- Interest income on securities acquired through open market operations totaled $170 billion in 2022, an increase of $47.6 billion from 2021;
- Interest expense on depository institutions’ reserve balances was $60.4 billion in 2022, an increase of $55.1 billion from 2021;
- Interest expense on securities sold under agreements to repurchase was $42 billion in 2022, an increase of $41.6 billion from 2021.
- Net income from facilities related to the Federal Reserve’s pandemic response was $108 million in 2022; and
- Operating expenses were $9.2 billion in 2022, including assessments of $2.8 billion for Board expenses, currency costs, and the operations of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Total assets of the Reserve Banks as of year-end 2022 were approximately $8.6 trillion, a decrease of $187 billion from the previous year, the Fed said. Total assets were composed primarily of $8.4 trillion of U.S. Treasury securities, and federal agency and government-sponsored enterprise mortgage-backed securities acquired through open market operations.
Federal Reserve Board releases annual audited financial statements