Fed mulls further easing

Fed weighing further easing, Bernanke says – MarketWatch

Bernanke discussed three approaches to further easing :

1. Fed to provide more “explicit guidance” to pledge that rates will stay low for “an extended period”.
2. Another round of asset purchases (or Quantitative Easing), or for Fed to “increase the average maturity of our holdings”.
3. Fed could reduce the 0.25% interest rate it pays to banks on their reserves – “thereby putting downward pressure on short-term rates more generally”.

Bernanke pushed Congress to increase the debt ceiling, saying failure to act would spark a “major crisis” and roil the global economy. He said that the US economy would certainly shed more jobs if the debt ceiling is not increased.