US Fed moves to backstop funding for companies as coronavirus fallout spreads

Fed chair Jerome Powell(pic) and House speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed even broader efforts that might be put into play by the Fed or other branches of the U.S. government

WASHINGTON: The U.S. Federal Reserve on Tuesday acted to ensure companies can continue paying workers and buying supplies through the coronavirus epidemic, as top officials scrambled through the day to broaden efforts to blunt the economic fallout from the health crisis.

The Fed in the morning announced it would reopen the so-called Commercial Paper Funding Facility to underwrite the short-term loans that companies often use to pay for their operations, a key financial market backstop first set up during 2007 to 2009.