President Barack Obama is due to pick Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Janet Yellen as vice chairman of the central bank, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing two people with knowledge of the selection process.

Governments must not put off addressing large debt burdens, because doing so could result in even greater fiscal problems down the road, a top U.S. Federal Reserve official said on Thursday.

U.S. banks borrowed less from the Federal Reserve s emergency lending program over the past week, providing further evidence that the strains caused by the financial crisis are easing.

The U.S. Federal Reserve s balance sheet rose in the latest week, Fed data released on Thursday showed. The Fed s balance sheet — a broad gauge of its lending to the financial system — edged up to $2.265 trillion in the week ended March 10 from $2.262 trillion in the prior week.

Foreign central banks holdings of U.S. Treasuries and agency debt at the Federal Reserve rose in the latest week, data from the U.S. central bank showed on Thursday.

iShares Barclays 1-3 Year Treasury Bond, JPMorgan Chase: Money Flow Leaders Markets Data Center: Money Flow Leaders.

* Carney repeats conditional pledge to hold rates low * Says no need for same monetary policy as the Fed * Targeting asset prices is not main means to stability

Bank holding company The Bancorp Inc. has repaid the $45.2 million in bailout money it received as part of the federal program to prop up banks during the economic meltdown.

The Federal Reserve bought $10 billion net of agency mortgage-backed securities in the latest week, the New York Fed said on its website on Thursday.

Fed s Low Rate Pledge Tames Treasury Volatility Price swings in the Treasury market have steadily fallen from their peak in 2008 in a sign that investor confidence in the health of the financial system and the broader economic recovery is being restored.