FED’S KASHKARI SAYS PANDEMIC AID ALSO A BANKING BAILOUT

Banks in the United States got their second bailout in little more than a decade when Congress cut cheques to millions of Americans to help them through the coronavirus crisis, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said, calling for a new round of reforms to prevent it from happening again. “I applaud Congress’ bold actions to support people affected by the COVID-19 crisis, but we need to be clear that families weren’t the only beneficiaries,” Kashkari, pictured, said in remarks prepared for delivery to a Council of Institutional Investors conference. But this was also a banking bailout, he said. Why, he asked, should banks be allowed to rely on fragile overnight funding markets?