The Federal Reserve said Tuesday that it would buy up to $600 billion in mortgage-backed assets in another attempt to deal with the financial crisis.
The Fed said it would purchase up to $100 billion in direct obligations from the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as the Federal Home Loan Banks. It also will purchase another $500 billion in mortgage-backed securities, pools of mortgages that are bundled together and sold to investors.
The $600 billion effort on mortgages came as the Fed also unveiled a program to help unfreeze the market that backs consumer debt such as credit cards, auto loans and student loans.