Federal Reserve officials considered going back to a calendar date to end asset purchases, according to minutes from the October meeting released Wednesday that suggested the central bank is looking for ways to exit or at least slow down the controversial program in fairly short order.
By a 9-to-1 vote, the Fed on Oct. 30 continued the $85 billion-per-month asset-purchase program, otherwise known as QE3, and made little changes to the language in the statement. But those few changes obscured that behind closed doors, officials were throwing all sorts of ideas up against the wall.
By a 9-to-1 vote, the Fed on Oct. 30 continued the $85 billion-per-month asset-purchase program, otherwise known as QE3, and made little changes to the language in the statement. But those few changes obscured that behind closed doors, officials were throwing all sorts of ideas up against the wall.
Minutes from the Oct. 29-30 meeting showed that officials considered reducing the size of the asset-purchase program even “before an unambiguous further improvement in the [labor-market] outlook was apparent.” And “many members” — by members, the Fed is referring to voters — “stressed the data-dependent nature of the current asset purchase program, and some pointed out that, if economic conditions warranted, the committee could decide to slow the pace of purchases at one of its next few meetings.”
Source: Marketwatch
