WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is a transcript from the news
conference with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, in which he
answers a question from Market News International’s Steve Beckner on
the inflationary effects of the Fed’s accommodative monetary
policy:
CHAIRMAN BERNANKE: Well, we view our monetary policies as being not
that different from ordinary monetary policy. It’s true that we used
some different tools, but those tools are operating through financial
conditions and we have a lot of experience understanding how financial
conditions change, interest rates changes in stock rates, so on, how
they affect the economy, growth, et cetera.
We are monitoring the state of the economy, watching the evolving
outlook and our intention, as is always the case, is to tighten policy
at the appropriate time to ensure that inflation remains well
controlled; that we meet that part of our mandate while doing the best
we can to ensure also that we have a stable economy and a sustainable
recovery in the labor market.
So the problem is the same one that central banks always face,
which is choosing the appropriate path of tightening at the appropriate
stage of the recovery. It’s difficult to get it exactly right, but we
have a lot of experience in terms of what are the considerations and the
economics that underlie those decisions.
So we anticipate that we will tighten it at the right time and that
we will there by allow the recovery to continue and allow the economy to
return to a more normal configuration.
At the same time keeping inflation low and stable.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **
[TOPICS: M$U$$$,MMUFE$,MGU$$$,MFU$$$,MT$$$$]
