FHLB of Pittsburgh Posts $23.6M Loss in 1Q

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh lost $23.6 million for the first quarter of 2009, and as a consequence, it said it was unable to set aside any funds for affordable housing programs. The loss is because of $30.5 million of other-than-temporary impairment charges on its held-to-maturity investment portfolio and the establishment of a $35.3 million reserve related to the Lehman Brothers Special Financing Inc. receivable associated with the Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. bankruptcy. In the first quarter of 2008, FHLB-Pittsburgh had net income of $57.5 million. Advances to members fell nearly 16% from $62.2 billion at Dec. 31, 2008 down to $52.3 billion as of March 31, 2009. The bank said demand for advances began to decline in the fourth quarter of 2008 and continued into the first quarter of 2009 as its members gained access to additional liquidity from the Federal Reserve Banks and other government programs that only became available in the second half of 2008.