Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday said “blanket” deposit insurance isn’t something her department is considering, but added that the appropriate level of protection could be debated in the future.
Testifying before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, Yellen was asked about reports that officials are studying ways to expand Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation coverage to all deposits.
“This is not something we have looked at, it’s not something that we’re considering,” said Yellen.
The questions to the Treasury chief came in the wake of the government’s actions to backstop all depositors at two failed banks. There is currently a $250,000 limit on deposit insurance, but some lawmakers have called for raising it.
Asked about raising the limit, Yellen replied that the focus should be on improving the public’s confidence that the banking system is sound, and that the $250,000 level was something “we can debate in the days ahead.”
U.S. stocks
SPX,
dropped after Yellen’s comments, which came as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was holding a news conference. The Fed earlier Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by another quarter percentage point.
