Fed could launch its own "funding for lending" scheme

Joining the dots, it is becoming clear that the Fed, and its Chairman Ben Bernanke in particular, are considering launching a US version of the Bank of England's new Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), which is designed to boost the volume of UK bank loans by offering cut price funding for those banks who are willing to expand the size of their own loan books. with long-term interest rates already at record lows the price of credit can't go much lower, so it makes sense to look at measures designed to boost the availability of credit.