US Fed to buy short-term corporate debt in emergency coronavirus move

The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday said it would relaunch financial crisis-era purchases of short-term corporate debt to thaw credit markets strained by an escalating public health emergency that has disrupted daily life for millions of Americans and threatens to push the economy into recession.

Under the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, first used in 2008, the central bank will buy short-term corporate debt directly from the companies that issue it.

The Fed said the facility will provide a liquidity backstop to U.S. issuers of commercial paper through a special purpose vehicle that will purchase unsecured and asset-backed commercial paper directly from eligible