WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve isn’t about to launch another bond-buying program to boost the economy — at least not anytime soon.
While some Fed officials are open to such a move, according to minutes of the Fed’s Jan. 24-25 policy-setting meeting released Wednesday, others believe the economy — which has come to life lately — would need to weaken before taking such action.
The debate took place at a meeting in which the Fed decided to hold its benchmark interest rate at record lows until at least late 2014. One Fed official argued that the central bank might need to consider abandoning that plan to keep inflation low.
Low inflation seems even less likely now after recent data show the economy has picked up since that meeting.
Employers added 243,000 net jobs in January, the most since spring. That helped lower the unemployment rate for the fifth straight month, to 8.3 percent. Car sales are up, as is consumer borrowing. And U.S. factories reported having their best month of growth in five years.
The Associated Press
