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Beyond Reserves: The Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet and the Repo Market

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Abstract

We present a new constraint on the size of the Fed’s balance sheet: repo market capacity. Calibrating a structural model to the recent monetary tightening cycle, we show that repo market capacity—driven by money market fund liquidity supply—is the binding constraint on the Fed’s balance sheet, not bank reserve demand, which was highlighted in the events of September 2019. We also demonstrate a novel complementarity between interest rate and balance sheet policies: higher policy rates expand repo capacity, allowing the central bank to operate with a smaller balance sheet.

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  • Sriya Anbil & Alyssa G. Anderson & Ethan Cohen & Romina Ruprecht, 2026. "Beyond Reserves: The Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet and the Repo Market," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2026-041, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:103441
    DOI: 10.17016/FEDS.2026.041
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    1. Acharya, Viral & Chauhan, Rahul & Rajan, Raghuram & Steffen, Sascha, 2022. "Liquidity Dependence and the Waxing and Waning of Central Bank Balance Sheets," CEPR Discussion Papers 17622, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
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