FOMC statement of December 16, 2009
This statement of the Federal Open Market Committee, compared sentence by sentence with the scheduled statement before it: what changed in the text, and how the Committee voted.
In short
The Federal Open Market Committee released this statement on December 16, 2009. Compared with the previous scheduled statement of November 4, 2009: 7 sentences changed, 7 were added, 4 were removed, and 3 stayed the same. In words: 227 added, 122 removed. The vote on this statement: Unanimous. On the November 4, 2009 statement: Unanimous.
FOMC statement · December 16, 2009
Changed sentences against the previous scheduled statement (November 4, 2009)
3 unchanged · 7 changed · 7 added · 4 removed · words +227 / −122
- November 4, 2009
- Unanimous.
- December 16, 2009
- Unanimous.
Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in September November suggests that economic activity has continued to pick up and that the deterioration in the labor market is abating.
Conditions in financial markets were roughly unchanged, on balance, over the intermeeting period.
Activity in The housing sector has increased shown some signs of improvement over recent months.
Household spending appears to be expanding but at a moderate rate, though it remains constrained by ongoing job losses a weak labor market, sluggish modest income growth, lower housing wealth, and tight credit.
Businesses are still cutting back on fixed investment and staffing, though at a slower pace, and remain reluctant to add to payrolls; they continue to make progress in bringing inventory stocks into better alignment with sales.
Financial market conditions have become more supportive of economic growth.
Although economic activity is likely to remain weak for a time, the Committee anticipates that policy actions to stabilize financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary stimulus, and market forces will support contribute to a strengthening of economic growth and a gradual return to higher levels of resource utilization in a context of price stability.
In these circumstances, the Federal Reserve will continue to employ a wide range of tools to promote economic recovery and to preserve price stability.
To provide support to mortgage lending and housing markets and to improve overall conditions in private credit markets, the Federal Reserve will purchase a total is in the process of purchasing $1.25 trillion of agency mortgage-backed securities and about $175 billion of agency debt.
The amount of agency debt purchases, while somewhat less than the previously announced maximum of $200 billion, is consistent with the recent path of purchases and reflects the limited availability of agency debt.
In order to promote a smooth transition in markets, the Committee will is gradually slow slowing the pace of its these purchases of both agency debt , and agency mortgage-backed securities and it anticipates that these transactions will be executed by the end of the first quarter of 2010.
The Federal Reserve is monitoring the size and composition of its balance sheet and will make adjustments to its credit and liquidity programs as warranted.
In light of ongoing improvements in the functioning of financial markets, the Committee and the Board of Governors anticipate that most of the Federal Reserve's special liquidity facilities will expire on February 1, 2010, consistent with the Federal Reserve's announcement of June 25, 2009.
These facilities include the Asset-Backed Commercial Paper Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility, the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, the Primary Dealer Credit Facility, and the Term Securities Lending Facility.
The Federal Reserve will also be working with its central bank counterparties to close its temporary liquidity swap arrangements by February 1.
The Federal Reserve expects that amounts provided under the Term Auction Facility will continue to be scaled back in early 2010.
The anticipated expiration dates for the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility remain set at June 30, 2010, for loans backed by new-issue commercial mortgage-backed securities and March 31, 2010, for loans backed by all other types of collateral.
The Federal Reserve is prepared to modify these plans if necessary to support financial stability and economic growth.
Show the 3 unchanged sentences
With substantial resource slack likely to continue to dampen cost pressures and with longer-term inflation expectations stable, the Committee expects that inflation will remain 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.
The Committee will continue to evaluate the timing and overall amounts of its purchases of securities in light of the evolving economic outlook and conditions in financial markets.
Source: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System — the statement on federalreserve.gov · November 4, 2009
How to read this page
The page sets this statement of the Federal Open Market Committee next to the scheduled statement before it, sentence by sentence. The Fed’s sentences are shown as published, in English.
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