The U.S. Treasury Department has completed the orderly wind-down of its agency-guaranteed MBS portfolio. The Treasury’s MBS portfolio had a positive return of $25 billion.
The Treasury bought $225 billion in MBS over the 2008 and 2009 period as authorized by Congress under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
According to the department, these MBS purchases helped access to mortgage credit during a period of market stress. It got total cash returns worth $250 billion from this MBS portfolio via sales, principal, and interest, which is $25 billion over the Treasury's initial investment.
“The successful sale of these securities marks another important milestone in the wind down of the government’s emergency financial crisis response efforts,” said Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets Mary Miller. “This program helped support the housing market during a critical moment for our nation’s economy and delivered a substantial profit for taxpayers.”
In March 2011, given improved market conditions, the Treasury said that it would start orderly winding down its MBS portfolio via the gradual sale of the securities over time. The sales were part of its efforts to get out of the emergency financial crisis response programs that were established in 2008 and 2009.
For more information about the Treasury's MBS purchase program, please click
