Getting your player ready...
WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department has sold the last of $225 billion in mortgage-backed securities it began buying during the financial crisis and said the program made a $25 billion profit.
The purchases of bonds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac started in October 2008 and continued through December 2009 as part of a series of unprecedented government interventions into the financial system.
The Treasury purchased the bonds to keep money flowing into the mortgage market, helping banks continue to make loans to homebuyers as the economy struggled.
As the economy and financial system improved, the Treasury began selling the securities last March.
