The US Federal Reserve said yesterday that it would continue its $85bn-a-month QE3 programme of asset purchases, but linked changes in the rate of purchases to prices as well as jobs in a nod to concerns about the falling rate of inflation.
“The Federal Open Market Committee is prepared to increase or reduce the pace of its purchases to maintain appropriate policy accommodation as the outlook for the labour market or inflation changes,” the rate-setting committee said at the conclusion of a two-day meeting.
The statement suggests that the Fed has backed away from the possibility of an early reduction in the rate of purchases. Fed chairman Ben Bernanke emphasised that possibility in a press conference in March.