Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the housing giants whose combined $188 billion bailout dwarfed all others during the 2008 financial
crisis, announced Thursday that they will return another $39 billion in dividends to the U.S. Treasury next month, bringing them close to fully repaying the taxpayers who rescued them.
Fannie Mae said it plans an $8.6 billion dividend that will bring its total payments to the Treasury in the past two years to $114 billion — $3 billion shy of its total $117 billion bailout — while Freddie Mac said a payment of $30.4 billion in dividends will more than complete the repayment of its $71 billion bailout.
Further dividends from both mortgage giants at the beginning of next year almost certainly will make taxpayers whole and turn their rescue operations into once-unimaginable cash cows for the government.
.
Although the two mortgage guarantee agencies technically cannot expunge their debts to the taxpayers and are still owned and controlled by the Treasury under the terms of their bailouts, the near break-even point they have achieved marks a symbolic closing of a major chapter in U.S. economic history as their bailouts were among the most dramatic, controversial and far-reaching events during the tumultuous financial crisis.
The large dividend payments to be reaped by the Treasury also highlight the important role the two mortgage giants have played in helping to sharply reduce the federal budget deficit in the past year to less than half of its $1.4 trillion peak during the crisis.
Via: Washington Times
Continue Reading.....
No comments:
Post a Comment