WASHINGTON – A key congressional committee agreed yesterday to hold the funding for the credit union emergency loan fund, the Central Liquidity Facility, at $40 billion as NCUA continues its work to stem the worst crisis in credit union history.
The panel of the House Appropriations Committee endorsed the $40 billion figure–up from $1.5 billion a year ago–through the end of fiscal 2010 in order to ensure that NCUA has a source of funding available to meet liquidity needs. Without congressional action the CLF funding will return to $1.5 billion at the end of the current fiscal year, Sept. 30.
The proposed funding now goes for a vote before the full Appropriations committee.
Over the past 10 months the CLF has become the main focus of NCUA assistance, providing more than $10 billion of low-interest loans to the credit union system through a variety of mechanisms. The CLF has also helped prop up troubled corporate credit unions through the CU System Investment Program, or CU SIP, which has provided short-term liquidity for the corporates.
