Banks are ramping up use of the new Fed facilities created in the crisis

American banks deepened their dependence on new Federal Reserve The lending program was created after the Silicon Valley bank collapsed this month.

borrowing institutions $53.7 billion of the bank’s term financing program through Wednesday, up sharply from $11.9 billion last week.

Banks are exposed to unrealized losses from bond holdings thanks to the rising interest rate environment. This problem helped lead to the collapse of SVB, which was forced to sell its holdings at a loss of nearly $2 billion earlier this month. Prices fall as prices rise resulting in losses.

It was the new bank financing program foot March 12 to ease similar pressures on banks and other institutions; It offers one-year loans backed by Treasurys or other safe assets, paying full price even if their market value is lower.

Another category of loans provided mostly to closed banks to meet depositors’ obligations and other expenses also jumped. These loans increased to $179.8 billion from $142.8 billion last week. Regulators seized Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank this month after depositors withdrew their savings.

Meanwhile, banks’ use of the discount window, the traditional way they borrow from the Fed, fell this week. Borrowing there fell to $110.2 billion from $152.8 billion last week. The discount window offers the market value rather than face value of the securities and provides 90-day loans compared to the one-year term under the BTFP.