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In an effort to support economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, the Federal Reserve is extending several of its lending facilities that were scheduled to expire near the end of September to Dec. 31, 2020.

"The three-month extension will facilitate planning by potential facility participants and provide certainty that the facilities will continue to be available to help the economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic," the Fed said in its release. "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 in April announced additional efforts to support the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, including providing up to $2.3 trillion in loans to households and businesses of all sizes through new or expanded lending facilities.

Among the facilities being extended through the end of the year are:

• the Main Street Lending Program, to which the Fed in June made changes to ensure more small and mid-sized businesses had access to funds;
• 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; and
• the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Liquidity Facility.

The Municipal Liquidity Facility was already set to expire Dec. 31, and the Commercial Paper Funding Facility is set to expire March 17, 2021.

Related to the PPP Liquidity Facility, the NCUA in April issued an interim final rule granting PPP loans a zero percent risk weighting, consistent with the CARES Act, and excluding from the definition of total assets for the purpose of calculating net worth PPP loans pledged as collateral to the PPP Liquidity Facility. NAFCU offered its support for the interim rule and asked the NCUA to clarify the zero percent risk weighting will apply under the risk-based capital rule, too, as some PPP loans will still not reach maturity in 2022.

NAFCU will continue to keep credit unions informed of programs to bolster their assistance to members impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.