Washington

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the central bank is prepared to use its full range of tools and leave the benchmark lending rate near zero until the economy is back on track.

Kent Hiteshew, who was recently hired by the Fed to help with the municipal market, said the Municipal Liquidity Facility opened Monday.

The co-chair of the House Municipal Finance Caucus also predicted the cost of the $3 trillion HEROES Act will be negotiated downward.

The Federal Reserve opened the door to participating in a competitive bidding process for short-term notes, a requirement in Illinois law.

The Federal Reserve chair says it may take a while, but the U.S. economy will get back where it was before the coronavirus pandemic.

Uncertainty and volatility have caused a bifurcated market when it comes to credit, and widespread disparity between high-quality and high-yield is complicating matters for issuers.

The Federal Reserve issued a stark warning Friday that stock and other asset prices could suffer significant declines should the coronavirus pandemic deepen, with the commercial real estate market being among the hardest-hit industries.

Analysts and issuers say the Municipal Liquidity Facility is a last resort aimed primarily at lower-rated issuers. But recent deals could prove the MLF’s effectiveness as a backstop.

With retail sales' record decline, budget pain will continue.

Yields on all triple-A benchmark curves out to nine years are now below 1%. The largest bumps were again on the very short end of the curve. Lipper reported $580 million of inflows.