WASHINGTON — Total lending through the Federal Reserve Board's discount window edged up slightly this week, rising 1%, to $140.3 billion.
Traditional borrowing by commercial banks grew 1.7%, to $66.7 billion and there were no loans to unhealthy banks.
The Fed said it had extended nearly $42 billion by Wednesday through the discount window to support American International Group Inc., which received a fourth bailout on Monday. The central bank has also established a limited liability corporation through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to help the insurance giant. Loans there were valued at $18.8 billion.
Investment bank borrowing was off 6.4%, to $23.6 billion.
Lending against asset-backed commercial paper held by money market mutual funds decreased 19%, to $8.1 billion. The Fed has yet to make loans to another limited liability corporation that will buy unsecured assets held by money markets.
Most of the discount window loans — $86.5 billion — will mature within 15 days. Another $42 billion will come due in one to five years and $11.9 billion will be repaid in 16 to 90 days. The final $55 million matures within 91 days to one year.
Separate from the discount window loans, the Fed purchased $241.3 billion of commercial paper by Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the New York Fed said it purchased nearly $59 billion in mortgage backed securities during the past week: $39 billion from Fannie Mae; $18.6 billion from Freddie Mac and $1.4 billion from Ginnie Mae. Total purchases more than doubled during the week.
Total assets at the Fed declined slightly to $1.9 trillion. Reserves held at the Fed by financial institutions fell 11.6%, to $619.7 billion.
