Central Bank Balance Sheet

The Central Bank Balance Sheet is Federal Reserve release H.4.1, the US central bank's weekly statement of assets it holds versus liabilities it owes. It covers all 12 Federal Reserve Banks individually and combined, plus factors affecting reserve balances (bank deposits at the Fed). It uses census-style administrative data from Fed and Treasury accounts, not a survey of lending, sentiment, money stock (H.6), or bank books (H.8). The Fed publishes the tables for monetary analysis, but the headline total alone is not a policy stance or inflation signal.

The Fed publishes H.4.1 each Thursday, generally at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, or on the next business day when Thursday is a federal holiday. Each release shows week-ended-Wednesday daily averages and the Wednesday level, plus changes from the prior week and a year earlier. Figures appear in millions of dollars, components may not sum to totals because of rounding, and weekly publication is required by law. It includes per-bank sheets, a 12-bank total, the reserve-factors statement, custody, securities-lending, and maturity tables, and consolidation notes (how totals combine).

Reserve balances rise when supplying factors expand faster than absorbing factors, and fall when absorption dominates.

• Securities held outright: face value of Treasury bonds, agency debt, and mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. It includes inflation compensation.
• Loans and repurchase agreements: Fed lending to banks (primary, secondary, seasonal, emergency credit) plus cash loans against collateral, with unamortized premiums and discounts.
• Other supplying assets: float (payment delays), liquidity swaps (dollars exchanged with foreign central banks), gold, SDR certificates, Treasury currency, and other Fed assets.
• Currency in circulation: paper notes held by the public, which absorb reserves when demand rises.
• Reverse repurchase agreements: short-term Fed borrowing that temporarily drains cash, split into foreign official and other users.
• Non-reserve deposits and other liabilities: Treasury General Account (government checking balance), foreign, term, and other deposits, facility contributions, and capital, which can print negative.

The April 14, 2022 release, covering April 13, 2022, captured the quantitative easing peak (large bond buying) before runoff began in June 2022. It showed supplying factors at 8,992,579 and securities at 8,482,935, including 5,761,686 in Treasury securities, all in millions of dollars of daily averages. Reserve Bank credit (total Fed lending and holdings) stood at 8,906,114, with reserve balances at 3,823,644. By April 11, 2024, runoff (letting holdings mature) cut credit to 7,401,571, down 1,184,904 year-on-year, with supplying factors at 7,488,659 and reserves at 3,586,845.

1. Supplying total: Add Reserve Bank credit (Fed holdings and loans) to gold stock, SDR certificates, and Treasury currency outstanding.

1. Absorbing total: Add currency in circulation, reverse repos (short-term Fed borrowing), Treasury cash holdings, non-reserve deposits, Treasury facility contributions, and liabilities and capital.

1. Reserve balances: Subtract absorbing total from supplying total, so R equals S minus A, where R means bank deposits at the Fed. For example, the April 2022 peak showed supplying factors at 8,992,579 with reserve balances at 3,823,644, in millions of dollars.