Over the coming months, the Federal Reserve will conduct up to five small-value offerings of term deposits under the Term Deposit Facility. The first of these offerings could be as early as mid-June. These small-value offerings are designed to allow participants to familiarize themselves with term deposit procedures. The term deposits offered will be simple fixed-rate instruments with maturities of 84 days or less, offered primarily, though not exclusively, through competitive single-price auctions.

The Federal Reserve approved amendments to Reg. D to allow Reserve Banks to offer term deposits. These amendments will take effect 30 days from May 5, the date of their publication in the Federal Register.

Effective today, the discount rate increases from 0.5 to 0.75 percent. Effective March 18, the typical maximum maturity for primary credit loans will shorten to overnight. The minimum bid rate for the final TAF auction on March 8 will be 0.5 percent, up from 0.25 percent.