The Federal Reserve on Wednesday voted unanimously to cut its bond-buying program on Feb. 1 by another $10 billion a month to $65 billion. The bank said "growth in economic activity" has picked up and that it continues to see "improvement" in the labor market. The Fed also signaled as expected that it's likely to continue to steadily reduce its purchases in the coming months. The Fed did not change its targets for inflation, short-term interest rates or its desired unemployment rate. Economists predict the Fed will wind down its bond-buying program by the end of the year. As recently as December the bank had been buying $85 billion in bonds each month. The purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities are meant to keep U.S. interest rate low to stimulate the economy.
Source: Marketwatch
Source: Marketwatch
