Fed Unlikely to Trim Bond Buying in October; Shutdown Upends Timing, Though Officials Could Act in December or January
The government shutdown might be over, but the long-running drama about when the Federal Reserve will start scaling back its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program might now last longer.</br></br>Just a few months ago, the Fed seemed to be on track to start pulling the program back by September in response to an improving economy. Now, it isn't clear when the first move will occur.</br></br>The Fed is unlikely to start curtailing its bond buying at its next policy meeting Oct. 29-30. Fed officials have said the decision depends on how the economic data evolve, but the data won't be very illuminating into November because the partial government shutdown closed the agencies that collect them.</br></br>"For those who really look at the data, it is going to basically delay thought of changing course," Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, said Thursday in an interview.</br></br>Mr. Fisher doesn't think the bond-buying program is working very well, so he is ready to end it. But he thinks the economic landscape will be too unsettled at the October meeting to make a judgment. "I personally will not support any action at this next meeting because we have so much confusion about what just happened," he said.