[ti:Bernanke Meets the Press in a First for US Central Bank]
[ar:Mario Ritter]
[al:Economics Report]
[by:www.21voa.com]
[00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English
[00:03.09]Economics Report.
[00:05.08]Central bankers have
[00:07.43]to choose their words carefully.
[00:09.38]So they often say little in public
[00:12.52]-- or little that makes sense.
[00:14.81]But the United States
[00:16.85]central bank says it is trying
[00:19.34]to be more clear and timely
[00:21.73]in communicating its policies.
[00:24.67]The latest example:
[00:26.71]a press conference
[00:28.71]by Chairman Ben Bernanke.
[00:30.60]Wednesday's event was the first
[00:33.95]of its kind in the ninety-eight-year
[00:36.73]history of the Federal Reserve.
[00:39.47]In his opening comments.
[00:41.46]Mr. Bernanke explained a decision
[00:44.45]by the Federal Open Market Committee
[00:47.98]to leave its main short-term
[00:50.32]interest rate near zero.
[00:52.98]The committee had just
[00:55.27]completed a two-day meeting.
[00:57.32]BEN BERNANKE: "The committee
[00:58.51]continues to anticipate that
[00:59.70]the economic conditions
[01:01.15]-- including low rates
[01:02.69]of resource utilization,
[01:03.90]subdued inflation trends
[01:05.74]and stable inflation expectations
[01:07.99]-- are likely to warrant exceptionally
[01:10.62]low levels for the federal
[01:11.92]funds rate for an extended period."
[01:14.21]In other words, the economy
[01:16.61]is not growing fast enough
[01:18.75]to worry about inflation.
[01:20.60]A reporter asked what
[01:23.59]an "extended period" means to the Fed.
[01:26.93]Mr. Bernanke said it suggests
[01:30.56]"a couple of meetings probably"
[01:33.20]but it all depends on the economy.
[01:36.78]The chairman said it is very hard
[01:40.71]to blame the American public
[01:42.50]for being impatient
[01:43.75]with the speed of the recovery.
[01:46.58]But he pointed out that unemployment
[01:49.07]is still high -- 8.8 percent in March.
[01:52.96]Oil and gasoline prices are high.
[01:57.34]And the housing market
[01:59.18]remains very weak.
[02:01.23]The committee said it will complete
[02:03.77]purchases of six hundred billion dollars
[02:07.22]in Treasury securities in June.
[02:10.55]The Fed launched
[02:12.84]the bond buying program
[02:14.63]late last year in an effort
[02:16.92]to keep interest rates low
[02:19.47]and strengthen the economy.
[02:22.36]Some economists say
[02:24.91]this second round of what is known
[02:27.90]as quantitative easing, or "QE2,"
[02:31.99]has not been effective.
[02:34.08]Mr. Bernanke disagreed
[02:37.27]and pointed to examples
[02:39.50]like gains in stock prices.
[02:42.05]The Fed has two main goals
[02:45.24]for its monetary policy:
[02:47.54]the highest possible employment rates
[02:51.02]and stable prices.
[02:52.96]The bank faced criticism
[02:56.15]for intervening either too little
[02:59.14]to some critics or too much to others
[03:02.73]in the financial crisis.
[03:05.46]The press conference
[03:07.10]produced no surprises.
[03:09.29]Yet, as recently as the middle
[03:12.89]of the nineteen nineties,
[03:14.28]the Fed did not even release
[03:16.37]its decisions or its interest
[03:18.79]rate targets to the public.
[03:20.98]Today the Fed is trying
[03:23.82]to reach out to Americans through ways
[03:26.50]like this video on its website.
[03:29.59]BEN BERNANKE: "Hi, I'm Ben Bernanke,
[03:31.88]chairman of the Federal Reserve System.
[03:33.52]The Fed, as it's often called ... "
[03:36.51]The Fed announced in March that
[03:40.10]Mr. Bernanke will hold
[03:41.74]four press briefings a year.
[03:43.95]The next of three planned
[03:46.69]for this year will follow a decision
[03:49.04]on interest rates in June.
[03:51.92]And that's the VOA Special English
[03:55.56]Economics Report.
[03:57.50]I'm Mario Ritter.