美联储有意大举购买长期国债

The Federal Reserve yesterday stunned markets by announcing its intention to buy $300bn of long-term US government securities and another $850bn of securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

美联储(Fed)昨日宣布，有意购买3000亿美元长期国债，并再次购买8500亿美元房地美(Freddie Mac)和房利美(Fannie Mae)发行的证券，这一举动震惊了市场。

The aggressive moves caught investors unprepared. Government bonds soared with the yield on the 10-year paper, which was already down 6 basis points, falling another 45 basis points to 2.51 per cent. The Dow Jones, which had been down about 60 points prior to the Fed's statement was 100 points higher within minutes of the news crossing the wires.

这一大胆举措让投资者毫无准备。美国国债价格随之飙升，此前已下跌6个基点的10年期国债收益率又下跌了45个基点，至2.51%。道琼斯指数在消息传出的几分钟内上涨100点。美联储发表声明之前，该指数曾下跌约60点。

The US central bank had discussed the possibility of buying Treasuries before, but had appeared to back away from the idea in recent weeks. The bank explained it was buying Treasuries as an indirect way of lowering private borrowing rates. It hopes the massive purchases of mortgage-related securities will lower mortgage rates, allowing households to refinance at lower rates, and easing pressure on the battered housing market.

美联储此前曾讨论过购买国债的可能性，但最近几周似乎放弃了这一想法。美联储解释称，它购买国债是为了以一种间接方式降低私人借款利率。美联储希望大规模购买抵押贷款相关证券的做法，将推低抵押贷款利率，让美国家庭能够以更低的利率转按揭，同时缓解受到重创的住房市场的压力。

The Fed statement came soon after the Bank of Japan said it would increase its purchases of Japanese government bonds by nearly a third, from Y1,400bn ($14bn) a month to Y1,800bn.

在美联储发表声明之前不久，日本央行(BoJ)表示，将把购买日本国债的规模扩大近三分之一，从每月1.4万亿日元（合140亿美元）增至1.8万亿日元。
译者/梁艳裳