Publications
Partners
Washington -The US Federal Reserve is prepared to take additional steps to boost economic growth if needed, Fed documents showed on Tuesday.
The minutes to the last meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, released on Tuesday, showed the central bank actively discussing what options it had if the economy continues to stagnate.
The minutes show the Fed still debating monetary policy efforts to revive growth despite chairperson Ben Bernanke's comments last week that the government and fiscal policy may be the best way to keep recovery going.
"While all felt that monetary policy could not completely address the various strains on the economy, most members thought that it could contribute importantly to better outcomes in terms of the committee's dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability," the minutes of the August 9 meeting said.
In a much-awaited speech last Friday, Bernanke demurred at unveiling any to tactics to stimulate growth, saying that at this time, with interest rates already holding at near zero, it was more the province of fiscal policy in the hands of the government.
"In the short term, putting people back to work reduces the hardships inflicted by difficult economic times and helps ensure that our economy is producing at its full potential rather than leaving productive resources fallow," Bernanke told a meeting of central bankers last week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
"Notwithstanding this observation... most of the economic policies that support robust economic growth in the long run are outside the province of the central bank."
But he also revealed Friday that the FOMC already decided on August 9 to expand their scheduled one day meeting in late September to two days to review what tools they had for boosting growth.
