Fed Signals More Easing

The Federal Reserve on Tuesday took fresh steps to lower borrowing costs amid a softening economic recovery, announcing it would use proceeds from its maturing mortgage bonds to buy more government debt.  The decision to reinvest proceeds from the more than $1.3 trillion in mortgage-related debt the Fed holds, an effort to keep market-set borrowing costs down, represents a significant policy shift.  Just a few months ago, the central bank had been avidly debating an exit strategy from the extraordinary stimulus delivered during the financial crisis.

"To help support the economic recovery in a context of price stability, the committee will keep constant the Federal Reserve's holdings of securities at their current level by reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities in longer-term Treasury securities," the Fed said in a statement.  The move was somewhat surprising.

Although many analysts and investors had expected the Fed to announce it was reinvesting the mortgage proceeds, most had thought it would buy more mortgage debt instead of government bonds.

Some analysts believe the Fed will end up having to go further in coming months and restart its shuttered program of outright asset purchases.

"The Fed is a step closer to reviving its program, but it will likely take somewhat slower growth to push it off the fence," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.  The Fed also left benchmark overnight interest rates steady in a zero to 0.25% range, and renewed its pledge to keep them low for an extended period.