AFP:
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The Federal Reserve ramped up its battle against the economic crisis Wednesday, announcing plans to pump an additional trillion dollars into the financial system in a further effort to spark recovery.
The Fed, at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting, said it would buy up to 300 billion dollars in long-term US Treasury bonds over the next six months “to help improve conditions in private credit markets.”
The central bank also said it was boosting purchases of mortgage-backed securities by 750 billion dollars to bring its total to 1.25 trillion dollars this year, and to buy 100 billion dollars more in other federal agency debt, as part of a wide-ranging effort to revive the sagging US economy.
“They sure came out with both guns blazing,” economist Julia Coronado at Barclays Capital said of the Fed’s 1.15-trillion-dollar initiative.
“I think (Fed members) have concluded they cannot wait around for the Treasury and Congress to solve the problems and need to be more aggressive in getting financial markets moving.