Kenneth R. Szulczyk
Table 1. Federal Reserve's Consolidated Balance Sheet on September 26, 2012
Assets $ millions Liabilities and Capital $ millions
Securities held outright 1,731,808 Federal Reserve notes 1,085,808
Mortgage-backed securities 834,979 Deposits by depository institutions 1,473,576
Loans 1,732 U.S. Treasury deposits 65,665
Items in process of collection 138 Foreign official deposits 24,220
Gold certificates 11,037 Deferred availability cash items 779
Special Drawing Rights 5,200 Other liabilities 101,421
Coins 2,183
Central bank liquidity swaps 14,693 Capital accounts 54,718
Bank premises 2,350
Other assets 202,067
Total assets 2,806,187 Total liabilities and capital 2,806,187
Source: Federal Reserve. September 27, 2012. Federal Reserve Statistical Release-Factors Affecting Reserve
Balances. Available from http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/current/h41.htm#h41tab9 (accessed
9/29/2012)
Gold Certificates are claims to gold held by the U.S. Treasury. When the U.S. Treasury
buys gold, it sells the certificates to the Federal Reserve. In turn, the Fed credits the U.S.
Treasury account at the Fed. The Fed held $11 billion in gold certificates in 2 0 12. Special Drawing Rights (SDRs): The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issues Special
Drawing Rights that are credit securities. The IMF allocates SDRs to various countries
around the world, and the Fed holds approximately $5.2 billion. We discuss SDRs in
Chapter 15. Coins: The U.S. Mint designs and produces all coins for the United States. The U.S. Mint
is a department under the U.S. Treasury. Normally, the Federal Reserve prints the U.S.
paper money, a Fed’s liability. Nevertheless, the Fed buys the coins from the U.S. Mint,
making it an asset. The Fed had $2.2 billion in coins in 2012. Central Bank Liquidity Swaps are Federal Reserve loans made to other country’s central
banks of developed countries. For example, the European Central Bank needs a loan from
the Fed. The Fed can lend the European Central Bank dollars and can accept euros as
collateral. The Federal Reserve created the central bank liquidity swaps during the 2008
Financial Crisis. The Fed granted $14.7 billion in central bank liquidity swaps in 2012. Bank premises are the buildings and equipment owned by the Federal Reserve, which was
$2.4 billion in 2012. Other assets: The Fed owns other assets, including foreign-exchange reserves, deposits
and bonds denominated in foreign currencies. Moreover, the Federal Reserve created
companies, such as Maiden Lane Transactions, to facilitate transactions with investment