WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Central banks got it right when they saved the world economy, but their unprecedented actions risk disruptive cross-border spillovers and potentially heavy losses when the time comes to reverse course, the IMF said on Thursday.

In its most detailed survey so far of the dramatic measures taken to counter the damage from the 2007-2009 financial crisis, International Monetary Fund staff repeated earlier assessments that the steps had worked but face diminishing returns.

WASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) – Central banks got it right
when they saved the world economy, but their unprecedented
actions risk disruptive cross-border spillovers and potentially
heavy losses when the time comes to exit, the IMF said on
Thursday.

In the most detailed survey so far of the dramatic measures
undertaken to counter the 2007-2009 global financial crisis,
International Monetary Fund staff repeated earlier assessments
that the steps had worked, but face diminishing returns.

WASHINGTON, May 6 (Reuters) – Banks eased lending standards
to U.S. businesses and for some types of consumer debt over the
last three months as competition intensified and demand for
loans advanced, the Federal Reserve said on Monday.

The findings of its quarterly senior loan officers survey,
which provides a detailed dispatch from the front lines of the
U.S. economy, were broadly in line with other indicators showing
steady, but still gradual U.S. growth.

RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) – Some measures of U.S. inflation have been “on the low side” but will edge back toward the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent goal by next year, a senior U.S. central banker said on Friday, playing down the risk of deflation that might warrant more Fed stimulus.

Arch-hawk Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, also acknowledged headwinds to the U.S. economy, but said he continued to expect it would grow around its trend rate of about 2 percent.

, May 3 (Reuters) – Some measures of U.S.
inflation have been “on the low side” but will edge back toward
the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent goal by next year, a senior U.S.
central banker said on Friday, playing down the risk of
deflation that might warrant more Fed stimulus.

Arch-hawk Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve
Bank of Richmond, also acknowledged headwinds to the U.S.
economy, but said he continued to expect it would grow around
its trend rate of about 2 percent.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve stuck to its plan to buy $85 billion in bonds each month to push down borrowing costs and prop up the economy, citing risks to growth from recent budget tightening in Washington.

Describing the economy as expanding moderately in a statement that largely mirrored its March decision, Fed officials cited continued improvement in labor market conditions.

WASHINGTON, April 29 (Reuters) – A slowdown in a key measure
of U.S. inflation in March will encourage Federal Reserve
officials to keep aggressively buying bonds for most of 2013 and
dim any enthusiasm for an early tapering of the program.

The U.S. central bank wants to drive down high unemployment
while keeping inflation near its 2 percent target. Data released
on Monday showed prices were heading in the wrong direction.

EL RENO, Oklahoma (Reuters) – Federal Reserve officials, as a rule, can expect a tough crowd when they visit places like Oklahoma where suspicion of big government runs deep.

Esther George, president of the Kansas City Fed, is an exception. As she surveyed the cattle ranchers, energy bosses and other business leaders waiting to hear her speak at an event in El Reno, Oklahoma this month, she had a lot in common with her audience.

WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) – Falling commodity prices
and softer growth have fanned concern U.S. inflation could slow
further, killing chances of the Federal Reserve tapering its $85
billion a month of bond purchases any time soon. But officials
do not yet not share market worries over deflation.

Several Fed policymakers last week cited a readiness to
increase the pace of bond buying to defend their goal for 2
percent inflation, including arch-hawk Jeffrey Lacker, president
of the Richmond Fed. They just don’t expect inflation to
continue to fall happen.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will miss the annual Jackson Hole monetary policy symposium this year due to a scheduling conflict, skipping the prestigious event for the first time since taking the helm of the central bank in 2006.

The conference, held in late August in the splendor of the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, draws top central bankers from around the world. Bernanke’s absence would mark the first time in 25 years that a Fed chairman has not attended.