Net Free Reserves

Net Free Reserves was a statistic that was released in Weekly Federal Reserve data showing the amount of money a bank holds above the required minimum. Deposit banks are required to keep a certain amount of cash on hand at all times. If banks have significantly more cash than stipulated by reserve requirements, they will lend it out. The Fed stopped publishing this data in 2013.

Net free reserves can indicate an easier credit environment and falling interest rates. Conversely, if a bank has insufficient reserves, it will borrow what it needs from the Fed, and the statistic will show net borrowed reserves, which will be expressed as a negative number.