国际英语新闻:U.S. Fed officials express concern on easing monetary policy

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- Many top policymakers at the U. S. Federal Reserve worried that the central bank's ultra-loose monetary moves might push up inflation and affect the financial stability in the future, the Fed said on Wednesday.

Many participants expressed some concerns about potential costs and risks arising from further asset purchases, the central bank said in minutes of the policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) on Jan. 29-30.

Since the onset of the financial crisis, the Fed has launched three rounds of quantitative easing (QE) programs, known as QE1, QE2 and QE3 and has thus far completed the first two rounds of the large asset purchase programs.

"Several participants discussed the possible complications that additional purchases could cause for the eventual withdrawal of policy accommodation, a few mentioned the prospect of inflationary risks, and some noted that further asset purchases could foster market behavior that could undermine financial stability," noted the document.

Most participants commented that the Fed's asset purchases have been effective in easing financial conditions and helping stimulate economic activity, but a few raised concerns about the potential effects of further asset purchases on the functioning of financial markets, said the minutes which is normally released three weeks after the meeting of FOMC, the powerful interest rate setting panel.

With QE1 and QE2, the Fed has bought more than 2 trillion U.S. dollars of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities, expanding its balance sheet to around 2.9 trillion dollars and attracting criticism both at home and abroad.