"I would have to see some pretty severe circumstances before I endorse for another round of quantitative easing"
- Dennis Lockhart, Atlanta Fed President
Federal Reserve policymakers believe that improving US economy reduces the need for further monetary accommodation, with reference to minutes of the central bank's March meeting.
Despite the signs of the US economy recovery, the Fed officials are concerned about the high unemployment rate. Some policymakers are convinced that if the economy loses momentum or inflation remains too low, further monetary stimulus might be required.
"While recent employment data has been encouraging, a number of members perceived a non-negligible risk that improvements in employment could diminish as the year progressed," the Fed minutes said.
"We haven't quite yet got to the point where we can be completely confident that we're on a track to full recovery," said Ben Bernanke, the US Federal Reserve Chairman.
"Several participants suggested that it could be helpful to discuss at a future meeting some alternative economic scenarios and the monetary policy responses that might be seen as appropriate under each one," according to the minutes.
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