January 25, 2012
Statement·Presser·Minutes·Policy
BBBen S. BernankeJanuary 25, 2012 FOMC Press Conference
- The chair said the FOMC's longer-run inflation goal is 2 percent as measured by the personal consumption expenditures price index.
- The chair said participants' estimates of the longer-run normal unemployment rate have a central tendency of 5.2 to 6.0 percent.
- The chair said participants' GDP growth projections for 2012 have a central tendency of 2.2 to 2.7 percent, for 2013 of 2.8 to 3.2 percent, and for 2014 of 3.3 to 4.0 percent.
- The chair said six participants anticipate policy firming to commence in 2015 or 2016, five in 2014, and six in 2012 or 2013.
- The chair said 11 participants expect the appropriate federal funds rate at the end of 2014 to be at or below 1 percent, while 6 anticipate higher rates.
From the opening statement
Press conference
CHAIRMAN BERNANKE. Good afternoon and welcome.
In my opening remarks I will briefly review today’s policy decision by the Federal Open Market Committee. And then I’ll discuss next the consensus statement that has been distributed to you regarding the Committee’s longer -run policy goals and strategy. And finally, I’ll place today’s policy decision in the context of our economic projections and our assessments of the appropriate path of monetary policy. And I’ll then , of course, be glad to take your questions.
As indicated in the statement released earlier this afternoon, to support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with our statutory mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary policy. In particular, the Committee decided to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to ¼ percent and currently anticipates that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least until late 2014. To provide support for the recovery in the context of price stability, the Committee will also continue the program that we announced in September to extend the average maturity of the Federal Reserve’s holdings of securities.