WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on Wednesday warned of significant risks to the already weak U.S. economy and launched a new plan to lower long-term borrowing costs and bolster the battered housing market.

The U.S. central bank said it would sell $400 billion of short-term Treasury bonds to buy the same amount of longer-term U.S. government debt, its latest attempt to kickstart growth that slowed to a crawl over the first half of the year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on Wednesday dialed up its aid to the beleaguered U.S. economy, launching an effort to put more downward pressure on long-term interest rates over time and help the battered housing sector.

The Fed said it would launch a new $400 billion program that will tilt its $2.85 trillion balance sheet more heavily to longer-term securities by selling shorter-term notes and using those funds to purchase longer-dated Treasuries.

WASHINGTON, Sept 21 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on
Wednesday looks set to launch a fresh effort to invigorate the
faltering U.S. economic recovery, embarking on what could be
the first in a series of incremental steps to foster stronger
growth.

The central bank appears likely to try to push long-term
borrowing costs lower by rebalancing its $2.8 trillion
portfolio of bond holdings to weight it more heavily to
longer-term securities.

WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) – Top Congressional
Republicans on Tuesday took the unusual step of telling the
Federal Reserve to refrain from further “intervention” in the
economy on the eve of the central bank’s policy decision.

The group said the Fed’s policies have been ineffective at
supporting economic expansion and boosting employment.

WASHINGTON, Sept 20 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve
opened a two-day meeting on Tuesday that is expected to end
with a decision to stock up on longer-term Treasury notes in a
bid to boost a fading economic recovery.

With the United States at risk of a new recession and the
political climate in Washington making prospects for fiscal
stimulus uncertain, the Fed has made it clear it is intent on
taking steps to lift growth, even if only modest ones.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two top Federal Reserve officials with widely divergent views have been asked by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to examine how the U.S. central bank could improve the way it communicates its policy goals, a Fed official said on Monday.

Bernanke has asked Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser and Chicago Fed President Charles Evans to work with Vice Chair Janet Yellen in looking at how the central bank could better explain its goals to the public.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Esther George, a long-time bank supervisor at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, will take the reins at the institution after its current president, Thomas Hoenig, steps down on October 1, the bank announced on Thursday.

George, who has a Master’s degree in business administration, currently holds the regional Fed bank’s No. 2 post of first vice president and chief operating officer. She served as vice president in charge of supervision and risk management from 2001-09.

WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) – Esther George, a long-time
bank supervisor at the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank, will
take the reins at the institution after its current president,
Thomas Hoenig, steps down on Oct. 1, the bank announced on
Thursday.

George, who has a Master’s degree in business
administration, currently holds the regional Fed bank’s No. 2
post of first vice president and chief operating officer. She
served as vice president in charge of supervision and risk
management from 2001-09.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve, facing rising global financial strains and recession fears, is poised to increase downward pressure on longer-term interest rates next week in a bid to accelerate a sputtering U.S. recovery.

With one eye on escalating debt turmoil in Europe and another on a stubbornly high 9.1 percent U.S. unemployment rate, the Fed, whose policy panel meets next Tuesday and Wednesday, looks set to begin shifting the composition of its balance sheet to weight it more heavily with longer-term securities.