"The combination of financial healing, greater balance in the housing market, less fiscal restraint, and, of course, continued monetary policy accommodation bodes well for US economic growth in coming quarters"
- Ben Bernanke, Fed Chairman
It was not easy for Ben. It took him and his team several tries to boost growth in the world's largest economy. Finally, Ben Bernanke comes to the end of his impressive tenure as the U.S. central bank Chairman. While the economy is still far away from being on a stable path, he established something of immediate value for his successor Janet Yellen—an exit from the third round of stimulus programme as during the last FOMC meeting they announced the first of several reductions in its monthly asset purchases. The Fed is now expected to regularly lower the pace of its purchases throughout this year and by the end of 2014 the Fed can be out of the stimulus business. During his final speech in Philadelphia the Chairman conveyed a tone of cautious optimism in assessing the state of the domestic economy, saying despite some improvement the Fed will maintain its highly accommodative monetary policy for as long as it is needed. He also called the start of the tapering as a manifestation of progress, and, at the same time, characterised the current state of the economic recovery as "clearly incomplete".
Supporting Bernanke's comments, the Institute for Supply Management said service industries unexpectedly expanded at a slower pace last month, suggesting some parts are improving in fits and starts. The index of activity in services sector fell to a six-month low of 53 from 53.9 a month earlier; however, still indicating expansion.
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