NEW YORK, July 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve on Thursday awarded $30.36 billion of one-day, fixed-rate reverse repurchase agreements to 21 bidders at an interest rate of 0.25 percent, the New York Fed said on its website.
The amount was the smallest of reverse repos since June 15, when the U.S. central bank awarded $28.31 billion to 20 bidders, according to New York Fed data.
On Wednesday, the Fed allotted $48.36 billion in one-day reverse repos to 31 bidders, including Wall Street dealers, money market mutual funds and mortgage finance agencies, also at an interest rate of 0.25 percent.
The reverse repurchase agreement program is seen as a critical policy tool for the U.S. central bank to drain money from the financial system in an effort to achieve its interest rate objectives.
(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Tom Brown)