WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Tuesday that it posted a record profit of 52.1 billion dollars in 2009 and thus paid 46.1 billion dollars to the Treasury.

    This gain represents a 14.4 billion dollar increase over the 2008 results, namely 31.7 billion dollars of 35.5 billion dollars of net income.

    "The significant increase in earnings on securities was primarily due to increased securities holdings as a result of the Federal Reserve's response to the severe economic downturn," said the U.S. central bank in a statement.

    Some 5.5 billion in net earnings came from consolidated limited liability companies (LLCs), which were created in response to the financial crisis, and 2.9 billion dollars in earnings on loans extended to depository institutions, primary dealers, and others.

    Meanwhile, net earnings from currency swap arrangements, which have been established with 14 central banks, and investments denominated in foreign currencies totaled 2.6 billion dollars.

    Additional net earnings of 1.5 billion dollars were derived primarily from fees of 0.7 billion dollars for the provision of priced services to depository institutions.