Treasury to Sell Up to $10 Billion of Mortgage Bonds a Month

March 21, 2011, 5:13 PM EDT
Businessweek
By Rebecca Christie, Vincent Del Giudice and Jody Shenn
(Updates prices in 18th and 19th paragraphs.)

March 21 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury Department plans to wind down its $142 billion portfolio of mortgage bonds guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by selling as much as $10 billion per month.

Sales will start this month and be subject to market conditions, the department said today in a statement. When combined with principal repayments currently ranging between $3 billion and $5 billion a month, the sales may eliminate the portfolio in about one year, the Treasury said.

“We will exit this investment at a gradual and orderly pace to maximize the recovery of taxpayer dollars and help protect the process of repair of the housing finance market,â€