US funding markets, which have been awash with easily accessible and cheap cash for nearly two decades, appear to be entering a new phase of higher borrowing costs posing a worry for investors and policymakers.
Interest rates on ultra-short-term financing used by banks and asset managers to borrow and lend to each other have been steadily rising as the Treasury is rebuilding its cash pile just as the Federal Reserve is tightening its own balance sheet. Meanwhile, usage of one of the Fed’s overnight lending facilities — long considered a measure of excess liquidity in funding markets — has dropped ...