The Federal Reserve System reported assets of $2.9 trillion at the end of 2012, virtually unchanged from a year earlier as the Fed continued to buy billions in mortgage-backed securities each month.

The Reserve Bank’s holdings of federal agency and GSE mortgage-backed securities grew by $102.1 billion from year-end 2011 to 2012, while its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities increased by $58.9 billion over the same year, the Fed said.

The Fed’s GSE debt securities holdings, on the other hand, decreased by $28.3 billion while balances held under liquidity swap arrangements fell by $90.9 billion.

This data was reported as the Fed released its combined annual financial statements for the 12 individual Federal Reserve Banks. Before making remittances to the Treasury, the Fed reported total net income of $90.6 billion.

However, the Fed reserve banks paid $88.4 billion to the Treasury.

The Reserve Bank’s net income was derived primarily from $80.5 billion in interest income on securities received via open market operations.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recorded a net income of $13.22 billion, compared to $13.218 billion a year earlier.

mhopkins@housingwire.com