WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is a transcription of responses of
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday to questions during a
press conference following the FOMC meeting:
QUESTION:
The Fed had stated the intention to move the structure of its
balance sheet more to its original Treasury only composition but
recently it provided the MBS provide through reinvestments and folks
like governor and Tarullo and William Dudley have raised the possibility
of further large scale asset purchases on the MBS side. Could you
comment on your views on that particular proposal?
BERNANKE:
You are absolutely correct. First that We would like to return our
portfolio to Treasuries only. That may be Some time down the road at
this point. You’re also correct that as Part of our policy action at the
last meeting we began to reinvest mortgage-backed securities and agency
debt back in to mortgage-backed securities thereby providing additional
support for the mortgage market. The housing sector is a very important
sector. It is — the problems in that sector are clearly a big reason
why our economy is not recovering more quickly. So I do think that
purchases of mortgage-backed securities is a viable option. It certainly
something we would consider. If conditions were appropriate. So the
answer is yes, we would certainly look at that.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MMUFE$,MGU$$$,MFU$$$]
