Good for the budget this year, I suppose ...
Fannie Mae to pay $59.4bn back to US taxpayer and forestall debt battleThe government-backed mortgage giant Fannie Mae is to pay $59.4bn back to US taxpayers, in a move that is likely to forestall a looming battle over the federal debt limit.
The mortgage finance company announced on Thursday that it had earned a record $58.7bn from January through March, benefiting from a one-time accounting move that allowed the company to lower its tax liability, as well as the recovery in the housing market.
In 2008, the government poured about $170bn into Fannie Mae and its smaller sibling, Freddie Mac, to save them after the financial crisis. Fannie Mae received about $116bn in loans. With its latest dividend, it will have repaid about $95bn. The payment looks set to boost the Treasury's coffers as it sees off a summer of fighting over the debt limit.
The government has reached its current debt limit, of $16.4tn, but after a budget battle at the end of last year Congress moved to allow the Treasury to borrow enough money to meet its obligations. That authority expires on 18 May. Paul Dales, senior US economist at Capital Economics, said the payment was likely to give the Treasury more room for maneuver and that it would add to a series of budget measures aimed at pushing off the debt ceiling limit.
"Even if nothing is done by 18 May, the Treasury has three months or so before it starts pushing up against the limit," he said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/may/09/fannie-mae-taxpayer-national-debt
