Tuesday, September 17, 2013

The Fed Is On The Verge Of 'Tapering'

Wall Street expects the Federal Reserve to announce the first reduction in the pace of monthly bond purchases it makes under its quantitative easing (QE) program at the conclusion of its FOMC monetary policy meeting Wednesday.
Right now, the Fed buys $45 billion in U.S. Treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities each month – $85 billion of bonds in total – in a bid to stimulate the American economy. The consensus on the Street is that the Fed's first "tapering" of QE will consist of a $10 billion reduction in monthly purchases, bringing the monthly total to $75 billion.
The Fed has maintained ever since the tapering discussion began early this year that its decision to begin this process of winding down QE is "data-dependent" – in other words, as long as the economic data continue to show improvement in the health of the American economy, the Fed's plans for tapering remain on track.

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