Fed Performs Quantitative Easing, Debasing Dollar

The US dollar fell after the US Federal Reserve announced its Treasuries-purchase program, causing the greenback to drop against 15 of 16 most-traded currencies.

The Federal Reserve announced that it’s going to “purchase a further $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011, a pace of about $75 billion per month” and left the interest rates near zero. The plans of the Fed to print more money debase the US currency. The Japanese yen is the only currency that fell versus the dollar.

The Federal Open Market Committee explained the necessity for the additional stimulus in its statement:

Currently, the unemployment rate is elevated, and measures of underlying inflation are somewhat low, relative to levels that the Committee judges to be consistent, over the longer run, with its dual mandate.

EUR/USD traded at 1.4117 as of 01:17 GMT after it rallied on the previous session from 1.4032 to 1.4130. GBP/USD traded near 1.6095 and rose on the previous session from 1.6033 to 1.6100. USD/JPY traded at about 81.09 after advancing from 80.66 to 81.11.

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