Table 1.

Key Developments in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Monetary Policy in 2020.

Date	News and Events
January 23	China implements travel bans or lockdowns in Wuhan and the other four cities in the Hubei province.
February 23	Italy sees a major surge in coronavirus cases and officials lock down towns, signaling the second phase of the coronavirus pandemic.
March 3	The FOMC announces an emergency rate cut of 50 bps.
March 15	Emergency FOMC meeting to lower rates to effectively zero and purchase Treasuries and MBS. The Fed lowers the primary credit rate in the discount window and lowers the required reserve ratio to zero.
March 17	The Fed announces a Commercial Paper Funding Facility and a Primary Dealer Credit Facility.
March 18	The Fed announces a Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility.
March 19	The Fed announces a temporary U.S. dollar swap arrangement with 9 central banks.
March 23	The Fed announces the corporate bond purchase programs (PMCCF, SMCCF), with the Treasury Dept., committing an equity investment of $10bn. CMBS is included in the QE on MBS. The Term Asset-Backed Securities Facility is introduced.
March 25	The U.S. Senate passes a $2 trillion fiscal package to stimulate the economy.
March 31	The Fed announces a temporary repurchase agreement facility for foreign central banks.
April 9	The Fed expands the target of the corporate bond purchase programs to include HY ETFs and issuers downgraded to BB/Ba before March 22. The Treasury Dept. increases equity investment to $75bn.
May 11	The Fed announces that it will start purchasing corporate bond ETFs on May 12.
June 15	The Fed announces that it will start purchasing individual corporate bonds to form a diversified portfolio of bonds.