Ben Bernanke yesterday soothed concerns that the US Federal Reserve will cut short its asset purchases before the labour market improves.
Mr Bernanke’s dovish testimony to the Senate banking committee clarified the Fed’s public stance after minutes of its recent meetings showed that “many” members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee were worried about the costs and risks associated with its third round of quantitative easing, or QE3.
Mr Bernanke said the benefits of asset purchases, running at $85bn a month, are clear. “Monetary policy is providing important support to the [US economic] recovery, while keeping inflation close to the FOMC’s 2 per cent objective,” he said.