WASHINGTON — Total lending through the Federal Reserve Board's discount window continued to decline this week, falling 1.6%, to $140.5 billion, on Wednesday.
Traditional borrowing by commercial banks also dropped slightly, falling less than 1%, to $65.1 billion. The Fed did not lend any money to unhealthy banks, and lent $2 million in seasonal credit to rural banks.
The Fed said it had extended $37.3 billion by Wednesday through the discount window to American International Group Inc., largely unchanged from a week earlier. The central bank has also created a limited liability corporation through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with loans valued at $18.6 billion, a slight drop from a week earlier.
Investment bank borrowing from the discount winder was off 3.1%, to $25.3 billion.
Lending against asset-backed commercial paper held by money market mutual funds decreased 10%, to $12.7 billion.