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For release on delivery
10:00 A.M., E.D.T.
J u l y 18. 1991

Statement by
Wayne D. Angell
and
Edward W. Kelley, Jr.
Members, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
before the
Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy
of the
Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs
of the
U.S. House of Representatives
July 18, 1991

'JUL* 16 ~

It is a pleasure for Governor Kelley and me to visit
with this Subcommittee today to discuss and review the Federal
Reserve System's expenses and budget.

Today as we look at the

Federal Reserve System's budget for 1991, Governor Kelley will
discuss the Board's budget and major initiatives, and my
comments will focus on the Reserve Bank budgets, as well as
major System initiatives.

The Board has recently made available to the public
and to this Subcommittee copies of our publication, Annual
Report:

Budget Review. 1990-91. presenting detailed

information about spending plans for 1991.

The attached tables

have been updated for 1990 actual experience and, therefore,
some variations exist from data in that document.

While the Federal Reserve has always been concerned
with controlling costs, the Monetary Control Act of 1980 has
provided an additional incentive.

As a matter of law, services

provided to depository institutions must meet a clear market
test.

Specifically, all expenses (including overhead and the

imputed cost of capital and taxes) for providing "priced"
services are covered by charges to users.

The markets in which

we operate in providing these correspondent banking services
are highly competitive, thereby providing a strong and direct

- 2 -

incentive to maintain our efficiency.
external restraints on costs,

Given these internal and

the Federal Reserve System's

expenses are projected to increase by an average annual rate of
5.3 percent from 1986 through the 1991 budget.

This increase

includes expenses for Supervision and Regulation initiatives
that account for 0.4 percentage points of the increase,
Expedited Funds Availability legislation requirements (0.3
percentage points), contingency planning initiatives (0.2
percentage points), and several major initiatives for the U.S.
Treasury (0.4 percentage points).

I would add that it is

difficult to judge the degree of discipline in an
organization's budget solely on the growth rate of expenses.
In the Federal Reserve we recognize the responsibilities given
to us by Congress and we discharge them in a manner that
reflects a high concern for quality and effectiveness as well
as efficiency.

For 1991, the Federal Reserve System has budgeted
operating expenses of $1.6 billion, an increase of 5.9 percent
over the 1990 budget.

The last year for comparison of actual

expenses is 1990 over 1989.

This comparison shows expenses up

only 4.5 percent, reflecting a 0.8 percent underspending of the
1990 budget.

Before getting to the substance of our 1991

plans, I would remind the Subcommittee of two aspects of
Federal Reserve System operations that affect our budget in
unusual ways.

First, 40 percent of System expenses arise from

-3-

the services I just mentioned that are provided to depository
institutions at fees adequate to cover all costs, including
some imputed costs.

Since additional costs of these services

are more than recovered by additional revenues, any increases
in costs result in increased earnings returned to the U.S.
Treasury.

Second, many fiscal agency operations are provided

to the Treasury Department and other agencies on a reimbursable
basis.

Altogether, 58 percent of our total expenses are either

recovered through pricing or are reimbursable (see Table 1).
On a net basis the cost to the public of the Federal Reserve
System's operations is $675 million of the total $1.6 billion
budgeted for 1991 (see Table 1).

(Of course, this amount does

not include the earnings on the System's portfolio of assets,
derived directly from monetary policy and currency issuance
activities, from which the System turned over $23 billion to
the Treasury in 1990).

Historical Overview

It may be helpful to put the budget for 1991 in
perspective by sketching the most recent 10-year history of
System expenses.

Between 1980 and 1990, Federal Reserve System

expenses increased at an average annual rate of 5.9 percent
(see Table 2 and Chart 1); System employment decreased at an
average annual rate of 0.1 percent (see Table 2); and volume in
measured operations increased by 26 percent over the 10-year

-4-

period (see Chart 2).

Unit cost did increase in some services

in the early eighties as Federal Reserve Bank volumes fell
following the implementation of pricing under the Monetary
Control Act.

However, after the transition to pricing was

completed in 1983, the composite unit cost for all functions
(unadjusted for inflation) has actually declined by 0.3 percent
on an annual basis, even while improvements have been made in
the quality of services.

For priced services, a decline in unit cost has been
particularly noticeable in the electronic payment areas.

ACH

unit cost has decreased by 6.9 percent per year (1980-90) and
Funds Transfer unit cost has decreased by 1.0 percent per year
during this same time period; since 1985, the decreases per
year have been 12.3 percent for ACH, and 2.9 percent for Funds.
Volume growth has averaged over 9 percent per year for funds
transfers and over 24 percent per year for automated
clearinghouse transactions (1980-90).

In our large check

processing operation, on the other hand, where there has been a
significant effort to improve the quality of service through
increased availability and improved deposit deadlines, there
has been an average increase in unit cost of 2.0 percent per
year since 1983.

However, in the most recent year-over-year

comparison (1990 over 1989) check processing unit cost dropped
1.2 percent, chiefly because the expensive implementation of

-5-

the Expedited Funds Availability legislation (EFA) was
basically completed in 1989.

For our nonpriced cash operations—involving the
distribution of currency and coin—unit costs have also been
declining.

Since 1983 the decline has averaged about 2.6

percent per year with volumes increasing 5.2 percent per year.
However, in our fiscal agency operations, also nonpriced, there
has been an increase in unit costs of 2.9 percent per year
since 1983 reflecting new operations and services for the
Treasury.

In this area the Federal Reserve System has managed

a number of initiatives for the Treasury to improve long term
efficiency in Treasury securities and savings bonds and improve
the quality of service to the public.

Through 1990 the Federal

Reserve has added 322 staff and spent a cumulative $65 million
on these Treasury initiatives.

It is difficult to measure productivity improvements
in the Supervision and Regulation area, but these activities
have required significant increases in resources over the last
10 years.

Between 1980 and 1990 staff for Supervision and

Regulation increased by 629 and annual expenditures increased
by $125.8 million.

These resources have been employed to

strengthen the ability of the Reserve Banks to identify and
address problems in the banking organizations under their

6-

jurisdiction.

Obviously, the Reserve Banks have had to deal

with greatly increasing workloads in the last several years as
reflected in the record number of bank failures and problem
banks, as well as in the increasingly complex issues they have
had to face in reviewing and processing of regulatory
applications and in developing supervisory policies to deal
with new and changing banking risks.

In presenting our spending plans for 1991, I would
like to mention that both the Reserve Bank budgets and the
Board's budget must be approved by the Board of Governors.
Reserve Bank budgets are first approved by the Banks' Boards of
Directors and then reviewed by the Committee on Federal Reserve
Bank Activities prior to submission to the Board of Governors.
Governor Kelley oversees the Board's budget and I will turn to
him for that discussion.

********************

Introduction

I appreciate this opportunity to discuss the
operating and capital budgets of the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System.

This material was included in the

-7-

Annual Report:

Budget Review 1990-1991 furnished you in

February, so I will not repeat the detailed data or analysis.

The 1991 operating budget of the Board of Governors
totals $110.8 million.

The growth in Board expenses between

1990 and 1991, at 7.6 percent, is slightly higher than the 7.5
percent increase from 1989 to 1990.

The 1991 increase results

from actions to further strengthen our supervision and
regulation function, to fund the higher level of salaries
needed to remain competitive with changes in the marketplace,
and to meet a higher level of expenses for health insurance,
Medicare, and the Board's Thrift Plan.

The budget authorized 1,557 positions for the Board's
operations.

The number of positions increased by a net of

three as requirements in the supervision and regulation
function and in the system policy direction and oversight
function were largely met by offsetting staff reductions in the
support functions.

From 1984 to 1986 our position level,

declined by about 80 even though we were increasing resources
devoted to the supervision and regulation function,

since then

the number of positions has remained substantially constant
even as further increases were reallocated to the supervision
and regulation function.

- 8 -

The foregoing figures do not include $1.8 million and
19 positions budgeted for the Office of the Inspector General
which I will cover at the end of this statement.

I will now discuss the budget as it relates to the
Board's four major operational areas.

Monetary and Economic Policy

This function is expected to cost $54.2 million in
1991, an increase of $3.0 million, or 5.8 percent, over 1990.
Most of this change is caused by factors such as the increase
in pay and benefits and the 1991 component of the automation
plan supporting this function.

There are no new positions in

this function in spite of continuing growth in workload.

The budget provides resources to maintain the guality
of economic analysis and continues major resource commitments
to implement FIRREA, to help develop the National Information
Center, and to support analysis of changes in the country's
financial industry.

The growth of expenses in this budget area is
constrained because earlier investments in distributed
processing systems have produced reductions in the cost of data

-9-

previously provided by the large mainframe computer and has
further limited cost growth by improving the productivity of
existing staff.

Supervision and Regulation

The 1991 budget funds considerable growth in this
operational area.

The budget of $32.8 million is $3.7 million,

or 12.7 percent, greater than expenses for 1990.

Eight new

positions are added, primarily related to policy development
and implementation, supervision of large bank holding companies
and increased emphasis upon compliance with consumer protection
statutes.

Most of the positions are a result of underlying

problems and new developments in the financial sector of the
economy and ongoing work related to FIRREA.

In addition to the direct costs associated with the
new positions, the budget continues to support development of
the National Information Center (NIC).

This comprehensive

database will be the only source of consolidated structure and
financial data for depository institutions; it will greatly
enhance supervision and regulation in an era of evolving
structure in the banking and financial sector.

Development of

the NIC will avoid redundant costs, improve data integrity, and
lead to more timely and meaningful analysis of applications,

-10-

merger requests, and other actions in a rapidly changing
environment.

The office automation networks supporting this
functional area will be substantially upgraded during 1991.

In

addition to acquiring new microcomputers, more advanced
networking equipment will be installed.

Services to Financial Institutions and the Public

The budget includes $2.9 million for this operational
area $107,000, or 3.9 percent more than in 1990.

This area is

composed almost entirely of oversight of the payments system
function of the Federal Reserve System.

A major factor in the higher level of costs is the
continued emphasis on reducing risk in the payments system and
ensuring that it responds in an efficient and timely manner to
changes in the financial system.

The budget includes two new

positions to develop policies and procedures to reduce risks in
both national and international payment and settlement systems.

The completion in 1990 of a large software
development project to manage currency orders and cash
shipments produces significant cost savings and thereby limits

-li-

the overall increase in the 1991 budgets for the Board and the
Reserve Banks.

System Policy Direction and Oversight

System Policy Direction and Oversight includes
resources for the supervision of System and Board programs.
This functional area has been partially redefined and our trend
data have been adjusted to reflect the new treatment of the
budget for the Office of the Inspector General that began in
the 1990 budget.

The $20.3 million budgeted for this function is $1.0
million or 5.4 percent more than 1990 outlays.

There are no major mission increases in this
functional area.

Staffing increases for the Reserve Bank

examination function are continued with the addition of an EDP
Auditor to help ensure that internal controls over major
Reserve Banks automation systems are adequate.

The budget funds replacement of older microcomputer
equipment in the Division of Reserve Bank Operations and
Payment Systems and some initiatives in support of the
division's local area network.

12-

Increases by Object of Expense

The most significant increase in the 1991 budget is
associated with salaries, not an unexpected outcome since 77
percent of the Board's budget is made up of personnel costs.
The salary increment in this budget, $5.1 million, is
significantly less than in 1990 when major actions were
budgeted to fully implement the new compensation program.

This

program has succeeded in reducing the number of vacancies with
the concomitant effect of increasing the salary budget.

A change in the Board's matching contribution for the
Thrift Plan and a higher wage base subject to social security
taxes are the principal factors resulting in the increase for
retirement costs.

Our insurance costs rose sharply because of two
factors.

The most important factor is health insurance where

costs are rising sharply for the third consecutive year.
Insurance costs also increased as a result of the recent
legislation that raised the salary base subject to the
employer's matching contribution to Medicare.

-13-

Caoital outlays

The capital budget of $5,131,700 is $1.0 million more
than 1990 expenditures.

The budget funds requirements in the

areas of automation and telecommunication, facilities
improvements, and equipment replacements.

A major element of the capital budget is $1,000,000
for the replacement of obsolescent analog telephone switching
equipment with a digital, private branch exchange.

Continued investment in our office automation systems
is in line with our long-range automation/telecommunication
plan.

Productivity gains from such investments have been

critical in the past in limiting requirements for additional
staff to meet the Board's increasing workload.

A number of facilities improvements such as major
roof repairs will require a total of $1,080,000.

Summary

The 1991 operating budget contains sufficient funding
to meet the Board's major objectives in each functional area,
including:

expanding our oversight of the nation's financial

-14-

institutions; implementation of risk-based capital standards;
support for the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and
Enforcement Act (FIRREA); enhancing payments systems operations
while reducing payments system risk; continuing investments in
productivity initiatives including office automation and the
records management project; continuing the development of the
National Information Center to provide relevant banking
structure data; and maintaining a safe and effective working
environment.

Three new positions were added in response to

continued growth in workload as a result of problems in the
financial industry, continuing implementation of the Financial
Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, and
changes occurring in the payments system mechanism.

Budget of the Inspector General

The Office of the Inspector General was created by
the Board in July 1987.

In 1989 its reporting relationships,

duties and responsibilities were brought into conformance with
the Inspector General Act Amendments of 1988.

To ensure the

independence of the Office of the Inspector General, its budget
is presented to the Board and reported on separately from the
regular operating budget.

That is, its funds are not

commingled with Board operating funds.

-15-

The 1991 budget for the OIG is $1.8 million.
$432,200 or 32.2 percent more than 1990 expenses.

This is

The

increased level of resources is necessary to phase-in broader
audit and investigation coverage of the Board's mission areas
and to provide resources to review new and existing laws and
regulations for their impact on the economy and efficiency of
Board programs and operations.

The $432,2 00 increment is largely tied to the
full-year cost of four positions added late in 1990 and
increases due to the Boardwide compensation program.

The

travel budget projects an increase of $55,000 associated with
auditing functions delegated by the Board to Reserve Banks.
The Office's 1991 budget provides for no increase in positions,
leaving the position count at 19.

I would be happy to address any questions you may
have after Governor Angell concludes our joint testimony.

-16-

Reserve Bank Budgets

The Reserve Bank 1991 expense increase—both priced
and n o n p r i c e d — w a s budgeted at 5.8 percent above the 1990
budget.

The actual increase in

expenses from 1989 to 1990 was

only 4.2 percent, since actual 1990 expenses were lower than
budgeted.

Nine major initiatives account for almost a third of

the budgeted increase in Reserve Bank expenses (see Table 4).

The Fiscal Agency initiatives are expected to
increase expenses by $4.9 million with $4.2 million due to the
nationwide implementation of the Regional Delivery System
(RDS).

This system, which provides for centralized issuance of

U.S. savings bonds, is one of many services we provide the
U.S. government —

directly to the Treasury Department —

as

its Fiscal Agent.

This project will not be fully implemented

until 1993 and will require a total staff increase of 350 by
that time.

A staff increase of 141 is expected in 1991.

Other

Fiscal Agency initiatives include expenses for processing
savings bonds on high speed check processing equipment (EZ
Clear) and centralized processing of payroll deductions for
savings bonds (Masterfile).

Expenses for these Fiscal

initiatives are fully reimbursable.

-17-

The Supervision and Regulation initiative result from
needs in several Reserve Districts for additional staff to
handle increases in workloads due to the greater complexity of
examinations, more holding company examinations, increased
examination of foreign banks, and more problem institutions.
The expense impact is expected to be $4.0 million.

Of the "Support" initiatives the largest —
million —

is for Facility Improvements.

$8.2

Approximately $5.5

million of this increase is for increased real estate taxes on
recently completed Federal Reserve buildings.

The remaining

increase involves efforts to provide space for efficient
operations at Cleveland, St. Louis, Kansas City, and the New
York Reserve Bank's East Rutherford Operations Center.

Reserve Bank operations in today's environment
require more reliable and secure computer systems, more office
automation, more communication networks, and more efficient
high-speed sorters and counters for checks and currency.

The

initiatives identified in Table 4 as contingency and automation
initiatives, check operational improvements, and currency
initiatives all result from these requirements.

The remaining initiatives include $4.5 million for
the Reserve Banks' share of the matching contribution for the

18-

thrift plan, and the two initiatives which have the impact of
reducing costs through improved operational efficiency.

In addition to these major initiatives, it may be
helpful to look at 1991 budgeted expenses on the basis of our
four service lines (see Table 5).

Expenses for Services to Financial Institutions
and the Public, which include all of the priced and some of the
nonpriced services, are budgeted at $992.1 million and account
for two-thirds of total expenses.

Expenses are increasing by

$53.2 million, or 5.7 percent over 1990.

Staffing is budgeted

at 9,227, an increase of 13 which is .01 percent more than the
1990 level.

Expenses of priced services are budgeted at $646.6

million, an increase of 3.8 percent; these services,
incidentally, are expected to generate revenues of about $780
million.

Nonpriced services are budgeted at $345.5 million,

an increase of 9.3 percent.

Commercial check processing is by far the largest
component in this service line ($492.0 million); it accounts
for 49.6 percent of these expenses and employs 5,686 people.
The anticipated increase in expenses is $18.9 million or 4.0
percent, while employment is expected to decline by 35 or 0.6

-19-

percent.

These levels represent anticipated stable operations

with both check volume and unit costs expected to increase 1.3
percent.

Our other large operations in this service line are
Currency ($166.7 million and 1,532 people), Automated
Clearinghouse ($83.4 million and 370 people), and Funds
Transfer ($70.0 million and 155 people).

The Currency service

anticipates sizable volume and staff increases in the San
Francisco District but with essentially stable operations
elsewhere (expenses up 6.8 percent; staff up 19).

Automated

Clearinghouse (expenses up 5.7 percent; staff up 5) and Funds
Transfer (expenses up 9.9 percent; staff up 1) both anticipate
some increased costs for automation type projects concerned
with improving efficiency and security of data.

Expenses for Supervision and Regulation, budgeted at
$234.2 million for 1991, are expected to increase by $22.3
million, or 10.5 percent over 1990.

This service line has been

the fastest growing of the service lines and now constitutes
15.6 percent of total System expenses, compared with 13.6
percent in 1985.

The budgeted staff level is 2,305, an

increase of 88 or 4.0 percent over 1990.

-20-

The expense increase is centered on provision for the
additional employees and compensation levels for the on-going
staff as well as travel, training and automation.

The

additional demands on the Federal Reserve's examination staff
have necessitated increases in personnel.

These increased

demands on staff include expanded bank examination programs,
improved supervision of foreign banking agencies in the United
States, the broadening level of detail covered in the
examination process, compliance with the Financial Institution
Referral and Recovery Enforcement Act (FIRREA) and Bank Secrecy
Act, intensified surveillance of problem financial
institutions, and increased focus on the requirements of the
Community Reinvestment Act.

Expenses for Services to the U.S. Treasury and Other
Government Agencies are budgeted at $167.2 million, an increase
of $10.3 million or 6.6 percent over 1990.

These expenses

continue at about 11 percent of total expenses in 1991.
Staffing levels are budgeted to increase by 96 or 5.3 percent.
The major initiative driving the increases in both expenses and
staff is the nationwide expansion of the Regional Delivery
System (discussed earlier), which consolidates the issuance of
U.S. savings bonds at one office in each District.

RDS volume

is expected to increase by 5.4 million bonds in 1991.

-21-

Expenses in 1991 for the conduct of Monetary and
Economic Policy at the Federal Reserve Banks total $107.5
million and account for about 7 percent of the total budget.
An increase of $8.5 million and 8.6 percent is anticipated in
1991.

Employment budgeted at 786 reflects an increase of 14

over actual 1990, but in fact brings the staff level only to
the level approved in the 1990 budget—approved staffing for
1990 was not attainable due to attrition and the lag in finding
qualified replacements.

In addition to providing for the staff

additions, the expense increase represents salary
administration actions and increased equipment and
data-processing costs associated with automation initiatives.

Reserve Bank expenses on an object of expense basis
also might be useful to the Subcommittee and are shown in
Table 7.

Operating expenses for Personnel comprise officer and
employee salaries, other compensation to personnel, and
retirement and other benefits.

Total personnel costs account

for 64.5 percent of Reserve Bank expenses and are expected to
increase by 8.0 percent in 1991.

Salaries and other personnel expenses account for
about 52 percent of 1991 budgeted expenses and are expected to

-22-

be $49.3 million or 6.7 percent above 1990 expenses.

Salaries

alone are budgeted to increase by $52.6 million or 7.3 percent
and will be partially offset by a decline in other personnel
expenses of $3.2 million or 25.2 percent.

The decrease in

other personnel expenses results from a declining use of
personnel agencies.

Merit pay increases of $37.1 million, or

5.1 percent, are the primary reason for salary expense growth.
Also contributing to additional salary expenses are staffing
level increases, promotions, reclassifications, and structure
adjustments.

These increases are partially offset by position

vacancies and reduced overtime.

Expenses for retirement and other benefits, which
account for 12.3 percent of Reserve Bank budgets, are
anticipated to increase by $22.1 million, or 13.5 percent, in
1991.

This increase is the result of continued escalation in

hospital and medical costs, a rise in the Social Security tax,
and an increase in the thrift plan match in 1991.

Nonpersonne1 expenses account for 35.5 percent of
Reserve Bank expenses and are projected to increase by 4.5
percent in 1991.

Equipment expenses are expected to increase by 7.2
percent and to account for 11.6 percent of total expenses in

-23-

1991.

Most of the increase is in depreciation expenses

resulting from acquisitions to expand data-processing and
data-communications capabilities because of increased
workloads.

Shipping costs (primarily for check operations)
account for 5.8 percent of the 1991 budget and are projected to
increase by 4.1 percent in 1991.

The increase is primarily the

result of a substantial increase in postal rates in early 1991,
an increase for the interdistrict transportation system (ITS),
and increases from rebidding local transportation contracts.

Building expenses, which account for 9.1 percent of
total expenses, are expected to increase by 10.4 percent in
1991 because of higher real estate taxes in several Districts
and the full year effect of recently completed capital
projects.

Table 8 depicts the plans of the Reserve Banks for
Capital spending in 1991.
greatly from year to year.

By their nature capital outlays vary
Outlays for buildings and for data

processing and data communications equipment continue to
dominate Reserve Bank capital budgets.

-24-

Special Budget Emphasis

The Board of Governors has continued approval in 1991
of two research and development projects intended to provide
long-range benefits to the Federal Reserve and the banking
industry.

Because the spending on such projects is relatively

high and short-term, the Federal Reserve accounts for them
separately from its operating expenses, although they are
included in the total System budget.

The budget for these

"Special Projects" in 1991 is $7.6 million compared to $5.2
million in 1990 and $7.5 million in 1989.

Since 1985, the Federal Reserve has been working on a
project —

"Digital Imaging of Checks" —

that could improve

the efficiency of the check collection system through
transition from paper delivery to electronic delivery.

The

System has been testing digital image technologies to produce
high quality images of check documents in a sustained
high-speed check processing environment.

The primary

applications chosen for the testing were truncation of
government checks and the processing of return items.

Both of

these check processes provide rigorous tests for image
technology in that they require the storage of large amounts of
data and require a high level of quality in the retrieved
image.

-25-

The focus of this project during 1991 will be on the
systems development of a high-speed government check archival
system, of personal computer systems for potential applications
such as return item processing, and of low speed systems that
will be efficient in very low volume applications in the near
term.

The 1991 budget for this project is $3.7 million.

The second Special Project is the "Development of
Currency Authentication Systems".

Our effort is to improve

capabilities for detection of counterfeit notes in the
processing of incoming currency deposits, and thereby promote
the integrity of United States currency in circulation.

The

1991 budget for this project is $3.9 million.

Before concluding my comments I would like to add
that the Federal Reserve knows a rigorous budget process is
only one part of financial management.

We are equally

concerned about other areas of financial integrity.

The

structure of the Federal Reserve System provides for
appropriate segregation of responsibilities; strong accounting
control over assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses; and an
organizational structure that establishes responsibilities for
audit and oversight of the objectives and goals of the Federal
Reserve System.

-26-

This was the subject of our report to the
Subcommittee earlier this year in which we described and
documented procedures and systems employed in supervising and
controlling the Federal Reserve Banks,

in brief summary, it is

the policy of the Federal Reserve that the Board and each
Reserve Bank maintain a system of internal controls which is
designed to ensure that objectives of each are achieved and
that they each operate in compliance with all prescribed rules,
regulations, and policies.

The management of each is

responsible for maintaining adequate internal financial,
custody, and data security controls over all aspects of their
respective operations.

To ensure that these controls are operating in an
effective manner at the Federal Reserve Banks, we have put the
following procedures in place:

(1) an internal audit function

at each Reserve Bank is responsible for assessing practices and
procedures for soundness and conformity with regulations in
accordance with professional auditing standards; (2) the Board
of Governors' examiners conduct financial, operational, and
procedural reviews at each of the Banks; (3) a CPA firm reviews
the procedures and practices of the Board's examination
program; and (4) the Board's specialists review the
effectiveness of each Reserve Bank's internal audit function.

-27-

We believe that these measures, offer excellent protection
against financial impropriety.

Governor Kelley and I thank you for this opportunity
to address the Subcommittee on the Federal Reserve System
budget.

The existing budget processes are working well in

controlling costs while at the same time encouraging quality
improvements.

We welcome your comments and would be pleased to

address any questions you may have on our budget.

Table 1

Operating Expense of the Federal Reserve System, Net of Receipts 1989-91
Millions of dollars, except as noted

1989

1990

1991
Budget

Itea

Total Systea operating
expenses

Change
1989-90
Amount

%

Change
1990-91
Amount

1,446

1,511

1,614

65

4.5

103

6.8

719
19
127

746
19
140

779
18
141

27
0
13

3.8
0
10.2

33
-1
1

4.4
-5.3
0.7

581

606

675

25

4.3

69

11.4

Less:
Revenue froa priced
services
Other incoae
Reimbursements
EQUALS

Net System Operating
Expense

Table 2
Federal Reserve System Expense and Employment, 1980-91 Budget 1/
Millions of dollars

Expenses
Amount

1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990

852
948
1,041
1,100
1,145
1,199
1,245
1,278
1,353
1,446
1,511

Growth Rate
1980-90
1991 Budget

1/

Percent
Change

Amount

Personnel
Percent
Change

14.1
11.3
9.8
5.7
4.0
4.8
3.8
2.7
5.9
6.9
4.5

25,198
25,480
24,755
24,466
24,257
24,609
24,721
24,483
24,832
25,140
24,990

2.6
1.1
-2.8
-1.2
-0.9
1.5
0.5
-1.0
1.4
1.2
-0.6

5.9
1,614

6.8

-0.1
25,398

1.6

Includes expenses and personnel of both the Reserve Banks and the Board
of Governors.

Table 3
Fedreal Reaerve Bank Enploynent by Service Line, 1980-91 Budget

Year

Monetary
and
Economic
Policy

Services
Services
to the U.S.
to
Supervision
Treasury and
Financial
and
Gov't Agencies Institutions Regulation Support Overhead Total

1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990

618
717
743
804
826
816
791
775
766
782
773

1,946
1,881
1,851
1,838
1,798
1,781
1,819
1,836
1,818
1,771
1,816

9,614
9,480
8,566
8,424
8,395
8,754
8,799
8,775
9,032
9,422
9,214

1,589
1,733
1,796
1,862
1,885
1,912
2,087
2,147
2,208
2,197
2,217

4,238
4,434
4,599
4,367
4,340
4,398
4,469
4,452
4,562
4,551
4,533

5,680
5,745
5,676
5,589
5,424
5,323
5,274
5,024
4,951
4,947
4,940

23,682
23,989
23,230
22,883
22,669
22,984
23,239
23,010
23,337
23,670
23,492

2.5%
1.3%
-3.2%
-1.5%
-0.9%
1.4%
1.1%
-1.0%
1.4%
1.4%
-0.8%

1991 Budget 786

1,912

9,227

2,305

4,646

4,986

23,861

1.6%

Long Tera
Growth Rate
1980-90
2.3%

-0.7%

-0.4%

3.4%

0.7%

-1.4%

-0.1%

Recent Year
1989-90 -1.2%

2.5%

-2.2%

0.9%

-0.4%

-0.1%

-0.8%

Budget Year
1990-91
1.7%

5.3%

0.1%

4.0%

2.5%

0.9%

1.6%

Percen
Change

Table 4
Operating Expenses Budgeted
For Major Initiatives of tbe
Federal Reserve Banks in 1991

Area of
initiative

Millions
of dollars

Percent
of 1991
operating
budget

Facility improvements

8.2

.6

Fiscal initiatives

4.9

.3

>1.2

-.1

Contingency and automation
initiatives

4.7

.3

Supervision and regulation

4.0

.3

Enhanced check operations

5.5

.4

-2.8

-.2

currency initiatives

2.2

.2

Thrift plan

4.5

.3

Total

30.0

2.1

MEMO
Increase in total operating
expenses, 1990
to 1991 budget

94.3

6.7

Fiscal consolidation efforts

Check operational
improveaents

Table 5
Operating Expense of the Federal Reserve Banks, by Operational Area 1933-91
Million of dollars, except as noted

1989

1990

Service Line 1/
Monetary and Economic
Policy
Supervision and
Regulation
Service to Financial
Institutions and
the Public
Services to the U.S.
Treasury and Other
Govenment Agencies..
TOTAL
1/

1991
Budget

change
1989-90
Amount

Change
1990-91
Aaount

t

93.6

99.0

107.5

5.4

5.8

8.5

8.6

195.1

211.9

234.2

16.8

8.6

22.3

10.5

916.3

938.9

992.1

22.5

2.5

53.2

5.7

145.5

156.9

167.2

11.4

7.8

10.3

6.6

1,350.5

1,406.7

1,501.0

56.2

4.2

94.3

6.7

Includes the cost of support and overheas services.
Table 6

Employment at the Federal Reserve Banks, by Activity, 1989-91
Average number of personnel, except as noted
1989

1991
Budget

Change
1989-90
Amount

I

change
1990-91
Aaount

773

786

-10

-1.3

14

1.8

2,217

2,305

19

0.9

88

4.0

1990

Service Line
Monetary and Economic
Policy
782
Supervision and
Regulation
2,197
Service to Financial
Institutions and
the Public
9,422
Services to the U.S.
Treasury and Other
Govenment Agencies.. 1,771
Support and overhead!
Support
4,551
Overhead
4,947
TOTAL
23,670

%

9,214

9,227

-208

-2.2

13

0.1

1,816

1,912

45

2.6

96

5.3

4,553
4,940
23,492

4,646
4,986
23,861

-18
21
-178

-0.4
0.4
-0.8

113
46
369

2.5
0.9
1.6

Table 7
Operating Expenses of the Federal Reserve Banks, by Object, 1989-91
Millions of dollars, except as noted

1989

1990

1991
Budget

Change 1989-90
Amount
%

Change 1990-'
Amount
t

68.1
618.1
14.9
150.2
851.3

74.0
647.3
12.9
163.5
897.6

79.3
694.6
9.6
185.6
969.1

5.9
29.2
-2.1
13.3
46.3

8.6
4.7
-13.9
8.9
8.0

5.3
47.3
-3.2
22.1
71.5

7.2
7.3
-25.2
13.5
8.0

54.4
158.1

55.7
174.5
31.5
86.9
30.5

-1.0
4.7

-1.8
3.0

—

—

82.2
27.2

53.4
162.8
32.2
83.5
28.9

1.3
1.7

1.6
6.3

2.3
11.7
-0.7
3.4
1.6

4.3
7.2
-2.2
4.1
5.5

Buildingst
Insurance
Taxes on real estate
Depreciation
Utilities
Rent
Other building
Total building

0.7
23.3
30.7
24.8
21.2
19.7
120.5

0.8
22.4
33.5
25.5
22.0
19.2
123.5

0.8
28.5
37.1
27.4
23.9
18.6
136.3

0.1
-0.9
2.8
0.7
0.8
-0.5
3.0

21.3
-3.7
9.2
2.6
3.7
-2.7
2.5

0
6.1
3.5
2.0
1.8
-0.5
12.8

0
27.2
10.6
7.7
8.3
-2.9
10.4

A H Other
Recoveries

91.4
-34.6

60.0
-35.2

51.6
-35.3

-31.4
-0.6

-34.4
1.7

-8.4
-0.1

-14.0
0.3

499.2

509.0

531.8

9.8

2.0

22.8

4.5

1,350.5

1,406.7

1,501.0

56.2

4.2

94.3

6.7

Object
Personnel
Officers' salaries
Employees' salaries
Other personnel
Retirement and benefits
Total Personnel
Nonpersonnel
Forms and supplies
Equipment
Software 1/
Shipping
Travel

Total Nonpersonnel
Total
1/

—

Software was made a separate item in 1990; previously costs were included in All
Other, $29.0 million in 1989.

Table 8
Capital outlays of the Federal Reserve Banks, by Class of Outlay, 1989-91
Million of dollars, except as noted

1989

1990

Capital class

Data processisng and data
communications equipment
Furniture and other
equipment
Land and other real estate
Buildings
Buildidng machinery and
equipment
Leasehold improvements
Total

Change
1991
1989-90
Budget Amount

%

Change
1990-91
Amount

62.2

94.7

77.0

32.5

52.3

-17.7

-18.7

25.6
25.3
36.6

26.9
35.1
76.4

38.1
42.7
139.5

1.3
9.8
39.8

5.1
38.7
108.7

11.2
7.6
63.1

41.6
21.7
82.6

8.5
1.7

8.9
1.0

27.6
3.4

0.4
4.7
-0.7 -41.2

18.7
2.4

210.1
240.0

83.2

85.4

35.1

159.8

243.0 328.4

52.1

Chart 1

Federal Reserve System Expenses
1980 -

1991 Budget

1.8
1.7
1.6

1.5
1.4
1.3
Current

1.2

1.1
Constant 1 /

1

0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2

0.1

0
1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1 / Deflated by GNP Deflator (1980 = 100)

1987

1988

1989

19901991 Budget

Chart 2

Trends in Volume, Unit Cost, and Employment
For Volume Measured Functions. 1 9 8 0 - 9 0
(1980 = 100)

180
170 160 -

150 140 -

Nominal Unit Cost

130 120 -

Volume

110 -

100
Employment
90 80 -

70 60
1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990