The Federal Reserve handed over a record $97.7 billion in profits to the Treasury Department in 2015, according to preliminary figures released Monday.
The Fed uses revenue from various sources, including interest from its big portfolio of bonds and other assets, to cover its operating and other expenses. The rest of the money is sent to the Treasury to help pay the federal government’s bills.
In 2014, the Fed sent a then-record $96.9 billion to the Treasury.
The Fed said Monday that the $97.7 billion figure for 2015 is preliminary and may be adjusted when the central bank’s audited financial statements are published, likely in March.
In addition, the Fed on Dec. 28 sent $19.3 billion to the Treasury under the terms of the federal highway bill enacted that month, which tapped the central bank’s surplus capital account as a source of funding. Fed Chair Janet Yellen protested that using the Fed to finance fiscal spending “sets a bad precedent and infringes on the independence of the central bank.”
Including that one-time payment, the Fed sent $117 billion to the Treasury in 2015.
The Fed’s remittance to the Treasury has grown substantially since the financial crisis thanks to its three rounds of bond-buying, which expanded the central bank’s balance sheet as it aimed to bolster the sagging U.S. economy.
