The Fed’s ability to pay interest is the key to what it calls its “exit strategy” from previous quantitative easing. When the economic recovery begins to accelerate, commercial banks will want to use the large volume of reserves that the Fed has created to make loans to businesses and consumers.
美联储支付利息的能力是其所谓此前量化宽松的“退出战略”的关键。当经济复苏开始加速时，商业银行将愿意动用美联储所创造的大笔准备金向企业和消费者贷款。如果信用扩张过于迅速，美联储可以提高它向存款支付的利率。只要利率足够高，就能诱使商业银行偏好于美联储（兼具流动性、安全性和收益性），而不是扩大私人贷款规模。