The Federal Reserve extended most of its emergency lending program by three months to the end of 2020 to help an economy still struggling with the COVID-19 epidemic.

"the three-month extension will facilitate planning by potential participants in these tools and confirm that these tools will continue to be used to help the economy recover from the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic," the Fed said in a statement on Tuesday. "

In addition to the extension of seven of the Fed's nine programs, the municipal liquidity facility originally expired on December 31 and the commercial paper financing facility expired on March 17, 2021.