18 January 2012

Fed Officials Open to Additional Easing as They Monitor Risks to Economy

By Craig Torres - Jan 18, 2012 6:02 PM GMT+0100

Federal Reserve officials are staying open to further monetary easing this year as they monitor risks that threaten to move the economy further away from their mandate for stable prices and full employment.

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart told reporters Jan. 9 that he hadn’t closed out “the option” for more stimulus, while New York Fed President William C. Dudley said in a Jan. 6 speech that it’s “appropriate” to evaluate whether the Fed could do more to boost growth. Both are voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Among the possible triggers for action, according to Ethan Harris, co-head of global economic research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York: a slump in U.S. gross domestic product caused by a European recession, a more rapid slide in U.S. inflation than anticipated, and deteriorating U.S. payroll growth.

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