US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke now signals that the U.S. central bank may consider further (monetary) easing, after the Fed announced interest rates would remain near zero until late 2014.
Bernanke also indicated the Fed might be willing to tolerate inflation above its newly unveiled official target of 2 percent if it means putting a dent in (high unemployment).
The Fed has suggested it will keep its key interest rate at exceptionally low levels at least through late 2014.
The revelation has come following a (two-day meeting) of the Fed's Open Market Committee.
The committee notes that unemployment remains stubbornly high in the US.
Growth in (fixed investments) is slowing, and the housing market in the United States remains sluggish.
The latest time frame for the US Fed's interest rates, which currently sit at virtually zero, is 18-months beyond the Reserve's original estimate for increasing its interest rates, and casts more (doubt) about the state of the global recovery in the near-term.