Taper Proceeds Apace as the FOMC Scales Back Its Market Support by Another $10 Billion
January 31, 2014
The Federal Reserves Open Market Committee fulfilled investor expectations this week by voting to reduce its support of the financial markets by another $10 billion overall, starting next month. That will reduce its targeted monthly increase in its agency MBS portfolio from $35 billion to just $30 billion. With new production of agency MBS falling more quickly than the central banks targeted purchases, the Fed may actually be taking a larger chunk of the market. When the Fed announced a $5 billion per month reduction in its MBS growth target in November, actual agency MBS issuance declined by more than twice as much, $11.3 billion, from the previous month. The FOMC said...[Includes one data chart]