Article: Fees on Freddie, Fannie? No problem, analysts say. (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae)

The imposition of federal levies on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored housing agencies, is again being presented as a deficit-reduction option. But credit and equity analysts say investors shouldn't lose sleep over the issue.

In what has become a ritual part of its annual deficit-reduction study, the Congressional Budget Office has revived the option of assessing "cost of capital offset fees" on the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.

Asserting that implicit government backing enables Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to lower their borrowing costs, the budget office said the imposition of $700 million of ...

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