The Government National Mortgage Association — commonly Ginnie Mae — issued $43.5bn in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) during June. It marked the first time in Ginnie’s 41-year history when the monthly issuance surpassed $40bn, according to a corporate release. “The extraordinary strength of our MBS program clearly demonstrates the continuing need for Ginnie Mae securities in the secondary market,” said Ginnie Mae president Joseph Murin. The month of issuance brings the total six-month total so far in 2009 to $207bn, well over the $107bn seen during the same time in 2008. Single-family accounted for $43bn of issuance, while multifamily composed $584m of issuance. With the full faith and credit of the US government, Ginnie is in the position of taking on loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development and Department of Housing, as well as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Public and Indian Housing. Ginnie also participates in the Federal Reserve’s MBS purchase program as an ongoing part of the Fed’s role in the so-called “dollar roll” market — a purchase agreement where the seller traditionally sells the security now under an agreement to buy it back in the future at a lower price. The Fed purchased $4.05bn of MBS from Ginnie in the most recent week of transactions, providing a bit of liquidity for other issuance. Write to Diana Golobay.