<Anchor> The
Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States, has released the minutes of the Federal Open Market held last month. The minutes included the opinion that the Fed might start curtailing asset purchases, or so-called tapering, in mid-May or mid-December.
Reporter Kim Yong-cheol reports.
[Reporter] At the
Federal Open Market Committee meeting last month, Fed members said it would be appropriate to begin a gradual tapering process if the broader economic recovery continues.
Members said the process could begin in mid-November or mid-December if a tapering decision to reduce the size of the asset purchase is made at the next meeting.
The Fed is buying $120 billion of U.S. Treasury and mortgage-backed securities every month to help ease the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis.
As inflation worsens, calls from inside and outside the Fed are calling for an urgent end to these asset purchases aimed at curbing long-term interest rates.
The minutes set a timetable that if the tapering process started in November or December, it would end in the middle of next year.
A method was proposed to reduce the purchase size of U.S. Treasury bonds by $10 billion and mortgage-backed securities by $5 billion each month.
It plans to reduce its asset purchases of $120 billion per month by $15 billion per month over eight months.
Some committee members suggested that tapering should proceed at a faster rate.
At the Fed's September meeting, nine out of 18 members, half, expected rate hikes next year.
If interest rates are raised following the tapering, the impact on the financial market is unavoidable.