With expectations for inflation to remain under control and in a move to combat the recession, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday said it would pump more than $1 trillion into the economy.
In a statement following the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said it would:
- Increase its purchases of mortgage-backed securities by $750 billion, on top of the already announced $500 billion
- Buy $300 billion of long-term Treasurys over the next six months
The Fed hopes the first measure will pull down mortgage rates and the second will help ease the credit crunch. Immediately following the news, U.S. stocks rallied, bond prices surged and gold prices reversed direction.
"The Fed is printing money to buy government debt, Tom Hartmann, a commodity analyst at AltaVest Worldwide Trading Inc. in Mission Viejo, California, was quoted on Bloomberg. "This stokes fears of inflation again — why we’re seeing gold take off."
The Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rate to between 0% and 0.25% in December, and decided to maintain the same range.
The following FOMC statement was released:
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January indicates that the economy continues to contract. Job losses, declining equity and housing wealth, and tight credit conditions have weighed on consumer sentiment and spending. Weaker sales prospects and difficulties in obtaining credit have led businesses to cut back on inventories and fixed investment. U.S. exports have slumped as a number of major trading partners have also fallen into recession.
Although the near-term economic outlook is weak, the Committee anticipates that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, together with fiscal and monetary stimulus, will contribute to a gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth.
In light of increasing economic slack here and abroad, the Committee expects that inflation will remain subdued. Moreover, the Committee sees some risk that inflation could persist for a time below rates that best foster economic growth and price stability in the longer term.
In these circumstances, the Federal Reserve will employ all available tools to promote economic recovery and to preserve price stability. The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and anticipates that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.
To provide greater support to mortgage lending and housing markets, the Committee decided today to increase the size of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet further by purchasing up to an additional $750 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities, bringing its total purchases of these securities to up to $1.25 trillion this year, and to increase its purchases of agency debt this year by up to $100 billion to a total of up to $200 billion. Moreover, to help improve conditions in private credit markets, the Committee decided to purchase up to $300 billion of longer-term Treasury securities over the next six months.
The Federal Reserve has launched the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility to facilitate the extension of credit to households and small businesses and anticipates that the range of eligible collateral for this facility is likely to be expanded to include other financial assets. The Committee will continue to carefully monitor the size and composition of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet in light of evolving financial and economic developments.
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Charles L. Evans; Donald L. Kohn; Jeffrey M. Lacker; Dennis P. Lockhart; Daniel K. Tarullo; Kevin M. Warsh; and Janet L. Yellen.
Also in the news on Wednesday, the Labor Department reported an increase in inflation with consumer prices rising 0.4% in February.
