Federal Reserve posts net loss of $77.6B in 2024

ISTANBUL

US Federal Reserve (Fed) reported an operating loss of $77.6 billion in 2024, marking the second straight year with a loss.

According to the bank's statement on Friday, the figure eased from the previous year's loss of $114.3 billion.

The Fed last made a net profit in 2022 with a profit of $58.8 billion.

The bank's interest expenses fell to $226.8 billion last year from $281.1 billion in 2023.

Interest income also fell to $158.8 billion in 2024 from the previous year's $174.5 billion.

The losses were driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, which was effective in 2020 and 2021, followed by interest rate hikes in 2022 and 2023 to contain rising inflation.

The policy rate was at historically high-levels of 5% to 5.50% until the bank began its rate-cuts last September.

The bank on Wednesday held the policy rate steady at the range of 4.25% to 4.50%, as widely expected.

"Uncertainty around the economic outlook has increased," the bank said in a statement.

Jerome Powell, the chair of the Fed, also warned that uncertainty is "unusually elevated" as the Trump administration tries to implement drastic economic change.