Federal Reserve Board officials said the panel’s Survey of Finance Companies slated this month will aid in assessing nationwide credit availability to households and businesses.
“These data improve our understanding of credit availability in our economy and the particular role played by finance companies,” Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell wrote in correspondence to prospective survey participants. I very much hope that you will take part in this important, voluntary initiative by the Federal Reserve to track ongoing developments in the economy. Your individual response is vital to the accuracy of our measure of the finance company industry and will be treated as confidential.”
Data collection involves major categories of household, real estate, and business loans in addition to liabilities, income, and expense information from finance companies.
There are questions regarding COVID-19 pandemic relief accommodations provided by finance companies. The data provides a reference point for the Federal Reserve’s monthly report on outstanding balances of finance companies while providing a comprehensive update on the companies’ sources of funds.
Officials are encouraging survey participants to accesswww.federalreserve.gov/financecosurvey, which links users to the site managed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, enabling survey completion online.
Powell’s correspondence seeking survey participation was sent to approximately 2,000 companies.