Mester continues her comments by saying:

  • MBS sales it could mean market losses for central bank
  • Losses would mean lower Fed remittances to treasury, though pose no operational problem for the Fed itself
  • Would help return balance sheet to primary treasuries, but could mean realizing losses depending on interest rates at the time
  • Losses would also be a communications challenge for Fed to explain why benefits of the smaller balance sheet are worth it
  • Final size of balance sheet will be determined by monitoring market developments as Fed holdings decline

Oh... the challenges of legging out of trades him.