by Calculated Risk on 2/27/2010 11:49:00 PM

Here is the Federal Reserve balance sheet break down from the Atlanta Fed weekly Financial Highlights:

Graph Source: Altanta Fed.

From the Atlanta Fed:

The balance sheet expanded $20 billion, to $2.3 trillion, for the week ended February 17.

Holdings of agency debt and mortgage backed securities increased $49 billion while short-term lending to financials, specifically the Term Auction Credit Facility, declined by $23 billion.

The balance sheet is expected to peak during the first half of this year after the MBS purchase program is completed and purchases settle on the balance sheet.

Note that some of the MBS purchases have not "settled on the balance sheet" yet.

The NY Fed has purchased $1.21 trillion net in agency MBS as of Feb 24th, but the Fed's balance sheet only shows $1.03 trillion in MBS assets. It takes some time for the purchases to settle, and this has confused some people. The NY Fed number is the one to follow - and no one should be surprised that the Fed's balance sheet continues to expand after the MBS purchase program ends on March 31st.