(Bloomberg News) Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank stands ready to take additional steps to boost U.S. growth and cautioned lawmakers against budget moves that would harm a "sluggish" recovery.
The Fed "will continue to closely monitor economic developments and is prepared to take further action as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability," Bernanke said today in testimony to Congress's Joint Economic Committee in Washington.
The remarks signal Bernanke may not be finished after attempts in August and September to strengthen record monetary stimulus with unconventional tools. The central bank's near-zero benchmark interest rate and $2.3 trillion of housing and government-debt purchases since 2008 have failed to produce self-sustaining growth in the economy and employment.
Lawmakers on the separate bipartisan congressional supercommittee charged with seeking $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction by Nov. 23 would take a "substantial step" by accomplishing that goal, Bernanke, 57, said in prepared remarks. At the same time, "more will be needed to achieve fiscal sustainability," he said.
"A second important objective is to avoid fiscal actions that could impede the ongoing economic recovery," Bernanke said. "Putting in place a credible plan for reducing future deficits over the longer term does not preclude attending to the implications of fiscal choices for the recovery in the near term," he said, without being more specific.
Longer Maturities
They were Bernanke's first detailed comments on the economic outlook and monetary policy since his decision Sept. 21 to adopt the so-called Operation Twist, replacing $400 billion of Treasuries in the Fed's portfolio with longer-term securities in a move aimed at further reducing borrowing costs and helping lower unemployment.
The program "should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates and help make broader financial conditions more supportive of economic growth than they would otherwise have been," Bernanke said in the testimony. Policy makers also decided to reinvest maturing housing debt into mortgage-backed securities, a move Bernanke said should "contribute to a stronger economic recovery" by "helping to support mortgage markets."
The U.S. jobless rate was 9.1 percent in August and has been stuck at 9 percent or higher for five months. Employers added zero jobs to payrolls in August, down from 85,000 in July, according to the Labor Department. Sustained payroll increases of around 150,000 a month are needed to bring unemployment down about half a percentage point over a year, according to Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York.
"Recent indicators, including new claims for unemployment insurance and surveys of hiring plans, point to the likelihood of more sluggish job growth in the period ahead," Bernanke said today. He also said that the "pattern of sluggish growth" in the economy "was particularly evident in the first half."