The Federal Reserve can reduce its securities holdings by allowing Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities to mature without reinvesting proceeds, a form of balance-sheet reduction commonly called quantitative tightening.
October 14, 2025
high
temporal
Operational method central banks use to shrink their balance sheets over time.
Allowing Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities to mature without replacing them is a tool the Federal Reserve uses to shrink its balance sheet (quantitative tightening), and this runoff can be implemented as a monthly cap on maturities not reinvested.
October 14, 2024
high
temporal
Description of a balance-sheet reduction (quantitative tightening) technique used by central banks
The Federal Reserve purchased longer-term Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities in 2020 and 2021 to lower longer-term interest rates and support the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic.
December 31, 2021
high
temporal
Pandemic-era large-scale asset purchases conducted as economic support measures.