Mnuchin: Economy Needs Grants not Loans

The United States Secretary of Treasury, Steven Mnuchin, said on Friday that ending lending programs by the Federal Reserve on December 31 is necessary with the market now in need for grants more than loan.

Mnuchin urged Congress to pass legislation to provide such grants.

The move was reportedly criticized by the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans, according to Reuters.

“Markets should be very comfortable that we have plenty of capacity left,” Mnuchin said

“To the extent these need to be reactivated, we have over $800 billion of capacity so I consider that to be a pretty good bazooka.”

“We’re not trying to hinder anything.”

“We want Congress to reappropriate this money.”