The discount window lending and other emergency lending programmes from the US Federal Reserve need to be more efficient and effective, said Michelle Bowman, member of the Fed’s board of governors, yesterday. She spoke at a roundtable titled The Lender of Last Resort: The 2023 Banking Crisis and COVID, sponsored by the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, in Washington, D.C.
The discount window is a central bank lending facility for banks facing short-term liquidity needs when they struggle to borrow from other banks, which is easier as the rate is cheaper and the loans do not require collateral.