QE3 Still on the Table to ‘Provide Greater Stimulus’

A third round of quantitative easing (QE3) is still on the table, said New York Federal Reserve President William Dudley.

“I don't think the Fed has run out of bullets,” Dudley told the Bronx Chamber of Commerce on Monday, reported Reuters.

Dudley is referring to the fact that even though the Federal Reserve's traditional policy tool of interest rates has hit the zero bound, it still has other ways of loosening monetary policy.

“It's possible that we could do another round of quantitative easing, we could do quantitative easing round three…to provide greater stimulus,” he said.

Another option to do so is promising to keep interest rates unchanged for longer than mid-2013, he said.

Dudley’s remarks follow comments last week by Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo and Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen.

Tarullo said “large-scale purchase of additional mortgage-backed securities” should be moved to the “top of the list of options” for “additional accommodative measures.”

Yellen said “securities purchases across a wide spectrum of maturities might become appropriate.”

It is clear that influential members of the Federal Open Market Committee still see QE3 as a viable option.

If the economy deteriorates and calls “for significantly greater monetary accommodation,” in Yellen’s words, do not be surprised to hear more talks of QE3 from top Fed officials.

The Federal Reserve injected about $1.8 trillion into the financial system with QE1 and $600 billion into the financial system with QE2.