Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee to detail how the central bank is unwinding its liquidity facilities.
In response to the financial crisis, the Fed launched nearly a dozen programs to pump cash into financial markets. The programs, which targeted investment banks, money market mutual funds, commercial banks and corporate debt, have been lauded for curbing the credit crunch but awoke Congress to the power that resides at the Fed.
Many of the programs ended Feb. 1, though the Fed will continue to buy debt and mortgage-backed securities from the government-sponsored enterprises through the end of next month. The Fed will also end its cash auctions in March, along with most of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility.
The committee is also scheduled to hear Wednesday from a panel of academics, including Stanford University professor John Taylor, who has said the Fed contributed to the financial crisis.
