Fed Funds Projected to Open at 0.13% to 0.17%, ICAP Says

Fed funds, the U.S. overnight inter-bank lending rate, is projected to open at 0.13 percent to 0.17 percent, within the Federal Reserve’s target of zero to 0.25 percent.

Fed funds closed at 0.10 percent on April 13 after trading from 0.10 percent to 0.17 percent and averaging 0.15 percent, according to ICAP Plc, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker. ICAP’s monthly average is 0.139 percent.

The central bank will sell $8 billion to $8.75 billion of Treasuries maturing from February 2013 to June 2013. The operation is part of the Fed’s program to replace $400 billion of short-term debt in its portfolio with longer-term Treasuries to reduce borrowing costs further and counter rising risks of a recession.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net