Connect to share and comment

Fed mulls exit strategy update amid timing debate

Agence France-PresseMay 22, 2013 17:47
The Federal Reserve has begun reviewing its strategy to exit stimulus measures, according to the minutes of the last FOMC policy meeting released Wednesday. But officials at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on April 30-May 1 remained divided over just when to begin tapering down the exceptionally accommodative policy used to support the US economy's recovery, the minutes showed. With indicators pointing to moderate growth, the FOMC began an update of the exit strategy outlined in the panel's June 2011 meeting.

Fed minutes showed some officials willing to consider trimming bond purchases as early as June

The Canadian PressMay 22, 2013 15:18
WASHINGTON - Several Federal Reserve policymakers this month favoured slowing the Fed's efforts to maintain record-low long-term interest rates as early as June — if the economy showed strong and sustained growth. But those officials appeared at odds over what evidence would demonstrate such gains. Minutes of the Fed's April 30-May 1 meeting released Wednesday show "a number" of members expressed a willingness to scale back the $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds the Fed has been purchasing, perhaps as soon as next month, if the economy accelerates.

Bernanke warns that premature ending of Fed's stimulus efforts would carry substantial risks

The Canadian PressMay 22, 2013 11:00
WASHINGTON - Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress Wednesday that the U.S. job market remains weak and that it is too soon for the Federal Reserve to slow its extraordinary stimulus programs. Reducing the Fed's efforts to keep borrowing rates low would "carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery," Bernanke said in testimony to the Joint Economic Committee, a panel that includes members of the House and Senate.

Bernanke says more progress needed before stimulus pullback

May 22, 2013 09:46
By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus is helping the economy recover but the central bank needs to see further signs of traction before taking its foot off the gas, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday. A decision to scale back the $85 billion in bonds the Fed is buying each month could come at one of the central bank's "next few meetings" if the economy looked set to maintain momentum, Bernanke told Congress.

Bernanke's congressional testimony to be studied for any hints of shift on Fed bond purchases

The Canadian PressMay 22, 2013 00:47
WASHINGTON - When Ben Bernanke testifies about the U.S. economy Wednesday, the Federal Reserve chairman's words will be examined for any clues that the Fed might soon taper — or increase — its support for the economy. The Fed is pursuing an aggressive program of bond purchases to try to keep long-term interest rates down and encourage borrowing and spending. The Fed has said it plans to continue its $85 billion-a-month in Treasury and mortgage bond purchases until the job market improves substantially. The timing of any policy shift remains hazy.

Fed could end bond buys in autumn if jobs outlook sure: Evans

May 21, 2013 20:31
By Ann Saphir CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve could continue full-speed ahead on its bond-buying program through the summer, but end it abruptly in the autumn if by then it is confident that the improvement in the jobs outlook is here to stay, a top Fed official said on Monday. "We've seen good progress in the labor market outlook," Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, told the CFA Society Chicago.

Too soon to dial back Fed stimulus: Dudley

May 21, 2013 17:15
(Reuters) - It is too soon to determine whether to dial down the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program, and the economic picture may not be clear enough to make that decision for another three or four months, an influential U.S. central bank official said.

Fed could end bond buys in autumn if jobs outlook sure: Evans

May 20, 2013 14:00
By Ann Saphir CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve could continue full-speed ahead on its bond-buying program through the summer, but end it abruptly in the autumn if by then it is confident that the improvement in the jobs outlook is here to stay, a top Fed official said on Monday. "We've seen good progress in the labor market outlook," Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, told the CFA Society Chicago.

Fed says 96,000 borrowers getting additional checks to correct errors in mortgage compensation

The Canadian PressMay 10, 2013 06:17
WASHINGTON - Some 96,000 borrowers who received checks to compensate them for wrongful foreclosures on their mortgages will be getting an additional check to correct for errors in the initial payment, the Federal Reserve announced Wednesday. The Fed said the affected borrowers received initial compensation amounts that were too low because of errors made by Rust Consulting, the company handling the payments.

Fed's Plosser wants to slow bond buys

May 9, 2013 19:45
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve should slow its massive asset purchase program, a senior Fed official said on Thursday, saying he wasn't sure how much the central bank's easy policy was helping the struggling labor market. "I'd like to stop but I would particularly like to see us begin to slow the pace down, gradually ease our way out of this if we possibly can," Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser said on Bloomberg television, answering a question about an exit from the Fed's easing.
Syndicate content