WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (Reuters) – There are limits to how much
aid the Federal Reserve can provide to the U.S. economy, Fed
Chairman Ben Bernanke warned on Wednesday as he urged
politicians to tackle a year-end fiscal cliff that could derail
the country’s gradual recovery.

“We have innovated quite a bit in the last few years, and
(it) is always possible we could find new ways to provide
support for the economy,” he told a news conference after the
Fed announced another round of bond buying to spur growth.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve ramped up its stimulus to the economy on Wednesday, expressing disappointment with the pace of recovery in employment as contentious U.S. budget talks heighten uncertainty about the outlook.

The central bank replaced a more modest stimulus program due to expire at year-end with a fresh round of Treasury purchases that will increase its balance sheet. It committed to monthly purchases of $45 billion in Treasuries on top of the $40 billion per month in mortgage-backed bonds it started buying in September.

By Alister Bull and Ann Saphir

(Reuters) – The Federal Reserve was reminded on Friday of the challenge of adopting numerical thresholds to guide expectations for future interest rate hikes, after the November jobless rate fell due to an unwelcome decline in the country’s labor participation rate.

The U.S. central bank, which meets next week to review policy, is debating the merits of replacing a current pledge to hold interest rates near zero until at least mid-2015, with thresholds for unemployment and inflation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve is set to announce a fresh round of Treasury bond purchases when it meets next week, avoiding monetary policy tightening to maintain support for the weak U.S. economy amid uncertainty over the looming year-end “fiscal cliff.”

Many economists think the U.S. central bank will announce monthly bond purchases of $45 billion after its policy gathering on December 11-12, signaling it will continue to pump money into the U.S. economy during 2013 in a bid to bring down unemployment.

NEW YORK/LITTLE ROCK, Dec 3 (Reuters) – U.S. central bankers
appear satisfied with the impact of their latest monetary
stimulus, though there is some disagreement over how forcefully
to continue purchasing bonds, remarks by two top policymakers on
Monday showed.

Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren, one of
the most vocal proponents of Fed asset purchases, said there was
a “strong case” for the Fed to stay the course on accommodative
policies next year and continue buying a total of $85 billion in
bonds each month.

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve could replace its expiring Operation Twist with a smaller program of outright Treasury purchases and still give the same boost to the economy, a senior U.S. central bank said on Monday.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard said simply replacing the scale of Twist, under which the Fed buys $45 billion in long-term Treasuries each month, and sells a like amount of short-term Treasuries, could stoke inflation.

WASHINGTON, Nov 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve
sharply increased its payments to the Treasury during the first
nine months of the year, data released on Thursday showed, with
part of the gain due to the repayment of emergency loans to help
rescue Bear Stearns and AIG.

The Fed’s unaudited quarterly financial report showed
payments to the Treasury of $67.7 billion in the nine months
through September versus $57.5 billion over the same period in
2011.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A number of Federal Reserve officials in October felt the U.S. central bank would need to step up asset purchases in 2013 to fill the gap when Operation Twist expires, according to minutes released on Wednesday that hardened expectations the Fed will take such a decision next month.

The minutes of the U.S. central bank’s policy meeting last month also showed that officials looked favorably on the idea of adopting unemployment and inflation “thresholds” to guide expectations about when they would eventually raise interest rates, but felt this needed more work.

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) – A number of Federal Reserve
officials thought the U.S. central bank would need to step up
asset purchases next year to fill the gap when their Operation
Twist program expires, minutes of the Fed’s October meeting
showed.

The minutes, released on Wednesday, also revealed that
officials felt their decision to launch a third round of
so-called quantitative easing, or QE3, had eased financial
conditions and helped support a recovery in U.S. housing.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior Republican senator voiced confidence on Sunday that U.S. lawmakers would forge a deal on the year-end “fiscal cliff,” while a top aide to President Barack Obama signaled a willingness to compromise over raising tax rates on the rich.

Republican Senator Bob Corker said increasing tax revenues from wealthier Americans would have to be part of the plan, but he stressed closing loopholes rather than raising top tax rates as many Democrats favor, provided spending is also tackled.