And fourth, temporary regulatory adjustments to encourage and allow banks to expand their balance sheets to support their household and business customers. The Fed takes actions such as these only in extraordinary circumstances, like those we face today.
For example, our authority to extend credit directly to private nonfinancial businesses and state and local governments exists only in “unusual and exigent circumstances” and with the consent of the Secretary of the Treasury. When this crisis is behind us, we will put these emergency tools away.