WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve earned $88.6 billion in 2020 and paid back to the federal government $86.9 billion, the largest Fed payment to the government in four years. The Fed said Monday that its earnings were up $33.1 billion last year, a gain that reflected falling interest rates which meant the central bank paid commercial banks less in interest payments on bank reserves that the Fed requires them to keep. The $86.9 billion in payments to the U.S. Treasury was up 58.3% from the Fed’s payment of $54.9 billion in 2019. It was the largest amount since the Fed paid the Treasury $91.5 billion in 2016.
