Lending facilities given three-month extension to smooth planning by users

Dec. 31 is the new deadline date for special lending facilities set up to deal with the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis, the Federal Reserve said Tuesday. The facilities were originally scheduled to wrap up Sept. 30.

The three-month extension, the Fed said in a release, will smooth planning by potential users of the facilities and to provide “certainty that the facilities will continue to be available to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The facilities affected by the extension are the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, the Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, the Primary Market Corporate Credit Facility, the Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, the Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility, and the Main Street Lending Program.

The Fed noted that two other facilities already had expiration dates of Dec. 31 or longer: the Municipal Liquidity Facility, set to expire on Dec. 31, and the Commercial Paper Funding Facility set to expire on March 17, 2021.

“The Board’s lending facilities have provided a critical backstop, stabilizing and substantially improving market functioning and enhancing the flow of credit to households, businesses, and state and local governments,” the Fed said.

Federal Reserve Board announces an extension through December 31 of its lending facilities that were scheduled to expire on or around September 30