FOMC statement

• 週三由美國聯邦儲備委員會(Fed)發佈之聲明表明，表示將在“較長時間內”維持極低利率水平不變，消彌了市場對聯儲可能較快加息的擔心情緒。
  
  
• 同時重申，對於1.25萬億美元抵押貸款擔保證券和約1,750億美元機構債券的購買已幾近完成，剩餘之交易將如原先規劃在本月底前完成。
  
  
• 雖然目前的經濟前景已有所改善，但聲明中重申，由於失業率仍然企高不下，使得家庭支出仍持續受限。
  
  
• 而商業設備及軟體開支已明顯上升，只是非住房的投資仍下降、房市開工持續維持在低水平以及就業市場的雇用意願仍顯低弱。
  
  
• Press release 全文
  
  Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in January suggests that economic activity has continued to strengthen and that the labor market is stabilizing. Household spending is expanding at a moderate rate but remains constrained by high unemployment, modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit. Business spending on equipment and software has risen significantly. However, investment in nonresidential structures is declining, housing starts have been flat at a depressed level, and employers remain reluctant to add to payrolls. While bank lending continues to contract, financial market conditions remain supportive of economic growth. Although the pace of economic recovery is likely to be moderate for a time, the Committee anticipates a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization in a context of price stability.
  
  With substantial resource slack continuing to restrain cost pressures and longer-term inflation expectations stable, inflation is likely to be subdued for some time.
  
  The Committee will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent and continues to anticipate that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period. To provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets and to improve overall conditions in private credit markets, the Federal Reserve has been purchasing $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and about $175 billion of agency debt; those purchases are nearing completion, and the remaining transactions will be executed by the end of this month. The Committee will continue to monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will employ its policy tools as necessary to promote economic recovery and price stability.
  
  In light of improved functioning of financial markets, the Federal Reserve has been closing the special liquidity facilities that it created to support markets during the crisis. The only remaining such program, the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, is scheduled to close on June 30 for loans backed by new-issue commercial mortgage-backed securities and on March 31 for loans backed by all other types of collateral. .....