Jean Chua
CNBC
June 20, 2012
The U.S. central bank will most likely ease monetary policy when it meets this week as recent data point to a worsening labor market and the crisis in Europe intensifies, Goldman Sachs said.
The Federal Open Market Committee will likely say it would buy assets such as mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasurys when it meets for a two-day meeting starting Tuesday, Jan Hatzius, the investment bank’s Chief U.S. Economist said in a report on Monday.
“We would be quite surprised if we saw no easing this week,” Hatzius wrote in the report.
The Federal Reserve [cnbc explains] may also extend Operation Twist, he added, although he does not find the “strategy very attractive.” The program – which involves the Fed selling medium-term bonds and using the proceeds to buy longer-term ones, such as 10-year Treasurys, effectively driving down longer-term interest rates – runs out at the end of June.
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