By July 2018, excess bank reserves had fallen to $1.8 trillion as the Federal Reserve Bank reduced its balance sheet and demand from the economy picked up. However, the Federal Reserve Bank was now paying 1.95% on IOER which was no longer within the requirements of paying "a rate or rates not to exceed the general level of short-term interest rates." Paying 1.95% in IOER when fed funds are naturally near 0% was far more than Congress had ever intended. One of the unintended consequences were banks were no longer lending out their excess bank reserves but rather choosing to receive over $35 billion a year of risk-free interest from the Federal Reserve Bank.