The Fed was trying to clarify its policy, not signal a change, when Federal Reserve Board Chairman spoke of tapering asset purchase, Federal Reserve Board Governor Jeremy C. Stein said Friday.
"We have attempted in recent weeks to provide more clarity about the nature of our policy reaction function, but I view the fundamentals of our underlying policy stance as broadly unchanged," Stein said, according to prepared text of his remarks, released by the Fed.
"Nothing we have said suggests a change in our reaction function for the path of the short-term policy rate, and my sense is that our sharpened guidance on the duration of the asset purchase program also leaves us close to where market expectations--as expressed, for example, in various surveys that we monitor--were beforehand," Stein said.
