Quantitative easing

The world economy will shrink at a far faster pace than originally expected this year, sending unemployment soaring and highlighting the need for extra steps to halt the crisis, the OECD said on Tuesday.

The United States is heading for only a tepid recovery next year, and the central bank may need to buy even more assets to combat the growing threat of deflation, the OECD said on Tuesday.

The world has more than enough reserves to help restore financial stability, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday, but a way needs to be found of unlocking the funds.

The U.S. recession will drag on for some months before a recovery starts in late 2009 or early 2010, but the future is still clouded by risks, top Federal Reserve officials said on Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday said the Fed's buying of longer-dated U.S. Treasuries would taper off when the economy no longer needed help, allowing the Fed to cease its emergency support.

By Carolyn Cohn

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday flashed back almost 50 years to a campaign code-named Operation Twist, as it announced the purchase of longer-dated Treasury securities to help end a deepening U.S. recession.

The U.S. dollar steadied on Thursday after suffering its biggest daily plunge since 1985, while Asian government bonds rallied on a large-scale plan by the Federal Reserve to buy long-dated U.S. Treasuries, reviving a practice not used in decades.

The U.S. dollar nursed big losses on Thursday and Asian government bonds rallied after the Federal Reserve vowed to buy long-dated U.S. Treasuries, reviving a practice not used in decades to revive an ailing economy.

The Federal Reserve resumed a two-day meeting on Wednesday that was expected to end with a vow to do whatever it takes to turn back the U.S. economy's deep recession but no new concrete steps to do so.

Bank shares powered ahead in Asia on Wednesday to underpin regional markets, while Japanese government bond futures edged up after the Bank of Japan sharply increased the debt it would buy to support the economy.

Asian stocks drifted higher on Wednesday as banks extended gains, while Japanese government bonds rose after the Bank of Japan sharply increased the amount of government debt it would purchase to support the economy.

The European Central Bank cut interest rates to an all-time low of 1.5 percent on Thursday, keeping up a record pace of reductions as the euro zone economy slides deeper into recession.

The Bank of England cut interest rates by 50 basis points to a record low of 0.5 percent on Thursday, and said it would pump 75 billion pounds of new money into buying assets, mostly gilts, in its battle with recession.

The Bank of England cut interest rates by 50 basis points on Thursday to a record low of 0.5 percent, and said it would buy 75 billion pounds of assets to expand the money supply and aid a recession-hit British economy.

The Federal Reserve stands ready to do everything in its power to combat the financial crisis and recession and buying long-term Treasury bonds could be helpful, a top Fed official said on Monday. Few of us imagined in our wildest dreams that our global economy could have turned so rotten so quickly, Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said in remarks prepared for...

TOKYO - Japan sank deeper into recession with its worst quarterly contraction in 35 years, data showed on Monday, its reliance on exports and soft domestic demand dragging down the world's second-largest economy. The grim Japanese figures, coupled with disappointment over the lack of coordinated action from the G7 and worries about bank rescue plans pushed European shares down by 0.6 percent in...

Japan sank deeper into recession with its worst quarterly contraction in 35 years, data showed on Monday, its reliance on exports and soft domestic demand dragging down the world's second-largest economy.

Several important Japanese indicators were released overnight including industrial production, unemployment rate and inflation (see below for details). The releases make horrible reading.