NEW YORK: The US Federal Reserve bought $13.1 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities from March 28 through April 3, down from $17.1 billion in the prior week, the New York Federal Reserve Bank said on Thursday.

In a move to help the housing market, since October 2011 the US central bank has been using funds from principal payments on the agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, or MBS, it holds to reinvest in agency MBS.

The New York Fed said on its website Thursday that the central bank sold no mortgage securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the Government National Mortgage Association, known as Ginnie Mae, in the latest week. It sold no MBS the previous week.

Last Sept. 14, the Fed began a $40 billion monthly increase in MBS purchases, its third round of large-scale bond buying, in an attempt to support the housing recovery and boost economic growth.

<Center><b><i>Copyright Reuters, 2013</b></i><br></center>