Seasonal borrowing privilege: profile of the Tenth Federal Reserve District

Although a greater proportion of small, rural, agri-lending banks in the Tenth District were eligible for the SBP between 1973-1980, once eligibility was determined, only size difference affected the use of the program. Nearly 20% of rural banks used the SBP during the time period compared to 20.9% of banks located in SMSAs, and 20% of high and low farm lending banks used the program. However, only 19% of the eligible small banks borrowed funds compared to 32% of banks with deposits over $50 million. The reasons for the lower percentage of small banks were because small nonborrowers were "greater purchasers of federal funds and maintained greater levels of excess liquidity" during the time period.