Fed "Continued Bond Purchases Until Maximum Employment and Price Stability Achieved" (Comprehensive)

Monthly $120 Billion Bond Purchase Program Guidelines Presented
No Changes to Bond Purchase Program

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), announced that it will maintain its bond purchases at a scale of $120 billion per month until the employment and inflation targets are achieved. There was no change to the asset purchase program.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

On the 16th (local time), the Fed released a statement following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, announcing a zero (0) level benchmark interest rate freeze along with guidelines for the asset purchase program.

Regarding the asset purchase program, the Fed set an implementation goal of "until substantial progress is made toward maximum employment and price stability."

While previous statements indicated that asset purchases would continue, this is the first time the Fed mentioned conditions for ending asset purchases.

According to the minutes of the November FOMC meeting released by the Fed, members expressed the need to clarify guidelines for the asset purchase program during that meeting.

However, the current statement did not mention any changes to the purchase program. The market had anticipated that the Fed would shift bond purchases to long-term securities to induce a decline in interest rates.