Goldman Sachs sees September start for Fed tapering

Goldman Sachs sees September start for Fed tapering

The Federal Reserve will start to scale back, or taper, its asset-purchase program in September, according to an economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
In a research note, Kris Dawsey, an economist with Goldman, cautioned that the decision to taper would ultimately depend on economic data.
The Fed currently buys $85 billion in bonds each month and market participants have been very focused on indications as to when those purchases will begin to be reduced.
If the Fed begins to taper in September, it is likely that the purchases would conclude in mid-2014, consistent with Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s recent guidance, Dawsey said.
Total purchases under the third round of quantitative easing would total about $1.3 trillion, bringing the Fed’s securities holdings to just under $4 trillion.