美联储延长“扭转操作”

The Federal Reserve extended Operation Twist – a plan to sell short-term bonds while purchasing longer-term securities – to support a slowing US economic recovery, but refrained from a more aggressive plan to ease monetary policy.

美联储(Fed)延长了“扭转操作，以便为日益放缓的美国经济复苏提供支持，但并未出台更激进的计划来放松货币政策。扭转操作是指出售短期债券，同时买入较长期债券。

At the conclusion of a two-day meeting in Washington, the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest rates, offered a bleaker picture of the US economy than it had at its last gathering two months ago. It noted that employment growth had slowed and consumer spending was rising at a weaker pace. It warned that global financial strains continued to pose “significant downside risks to the economic outlook.

在华盛顿为期两天的会议结束之际，负责制定利率的美联储公开市场委员会(FOMC)对美国经济的描述比两月前的上次会议更为黯淡。它指出，美国就业增长放缓，消费支出的增速更为疲弱。该委员会警告称，全球金融紧张局势继续给美国经济前景带来“重大的下行风险。

But, in a sign Fed officials remain divided over the seriousness of the deterioration in the economy and the effectiveness of bolder steps, they stopped short of approving a fresh expansion of the central bank’s balance sheet through new asset purchases, known as QE3.

但委员会未能批准新的资产购买计划（即QE3）从而进一步扩大美联储的资产负债表，表明美联储官员对经济恶化程度和更大胆举措的效果存在分歧。

But the Fed made a more explicit pledge to do so if necessary. “The committee is prepared to take further action as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labour market conditions in a context of price stability, the FOMC said.

但美联储更为明确地承诺将在必要时出台上述举措。美联储公开市场委员会表示：“委员会准备在适当时候采取进一步行动，在物价稳定的环境下，促进经济更强劲复苏，并维持劳动力市场状况的改善。

The Fed said it would buy Treasuries with maturities of 6 to 30 years worth $267bn, while selling those with durations of three years or less.

美联储表示，将购买价值2670亿美元、6至30年内到期的国债，同时卖出3年及以下的国债。

The statement disappointed some investors.

美联储的声明令部分投资者感到失望。

“The lack of QE should not spook the market too much, but it must make the market sit up and take notice that further easing is only coming if the wheels are coming off the recovery, said David Semmens, a US economist at Standard Chartered.

渣打银行(Standard Chartered)的美国经济学家大卫·赛蒙斯(David Semmens)表示：“美联储未能推出QE3应该不会让市场感到太大恐慌，但它肯定会让市场警觉到，进一步的宽松政策只有在复苏停止的情况下才会出台。