“缩表”时代将落幕？货币市场告急之际，美联储本周有望结束QT

Group 1 - The Federal Reserve is expected to end its three-year quantitative tightening (QT) this week to alleviate pressure on banks amid tightening funding conditions in the money market [1][3] - Since the initiation of QT in June 2022, the Federal Reserve has allowed over $2 trillion in U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed securities to mature without reinvestment, tightening the financing environment [1][2] - The Federal Reserve's balance sheet currently stands at $6.59 trillion, which is over $2 trillion higher than pre-pandemic levels [3] Group 2 - QT is the reverse operation of quantitative easing (QE), which was last used during the pandemic to prevent economic and financial crises [2] - The Federal Reserve slowed the pace of QT in April, reducing the monthly reduction of U.S. Treasuries from $25 billion to $5 billion while maintaining a maximum reduction of $35 billion for mortgage-backed securities [2] - The use of the New York Fed's standing repo facility has recently reached pandemic levels, indicating a potential shift from "ample" to "adequate" liquidity in the banking system [3] Group 3 - Concerns about liquidity shocks are driving the Federal Reserve to take action to avoid a repeat of the September 2019 QT episode, when short-term financing costs surged above the Fed's target range [3] - Critics argue that while QE prevented market collapse during the pandemic, it also contributed to the most severe inflation surge in a generation [3][4] - U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen criticized the Fed's QE program as "deviating from its mission," claiming that its balance sheet policies exacerbate inequality, a claim denied by Fed officials [4]