The Federal Open Market Committee Holds Steady With Mortgage Backed Security Investments
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve decided to continue its current policy of quantitative easing (QE) based on current economic conditions. The Fed currently purchases $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and $45 billion in Treasury securities monthly. Objectives for the QE program include: Keeping long term interest rates, including mortgage rates, low Supporting mortgage markets Easing broader financial conditions FOMC repeated its position of evaluating QE policy based on inflation, the unemployment rate and economic developments. Members of the FOMC determined that keeping the federal funds rate between 0.00 and 0.25 percent until the following…