South African mine workers union contract negotiations update

By Corbett B. Daly
CBSMarketWatch

a href=http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B36821AB5%2D0080%http:/...
2D42A8%2DA184%2D7507E85C4ACD%7Damp;siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON, July 23 -- The Federal Reserve should
stand ready to cut overnight lending rates to zero if the
economy needs an extra jolt, said a Fed governor on
Wednesday.

quot;We should be willing to cut the funds rate to zero, should
that prove necessary to provide the required support to
the economy,quot; Federal Reserve Board Gov. Ben Bernanke said
in a speech at the University of California, San Diego. A
copy of the speech was released in Washington.

His remarks helped propel bond prices higher.

Following the speech, a benchmark 10-year note rose
14/32 at 96 14/32. Its yield fell to 4.07 percent from 4.15
percent in the previous session. The 10-year struck a
seven-month yield high at 4.21 percent Monday after
falling to a 1958 low 3.07 percent in mid-June.

And the U.S. dollar extended its broad decline after the
speech. Euro/dollar was recently up 1.1 percent at
$1.1450. Euro/yen improved 0.9 percent at 135.95.
Sterling/dollar rose 0.8 percent at $1.6086.

It was Bernanke's speech in November last year that
helped fuel a huge rally in the bond market on the notion
the Fed might take the unconventional step of buying
Treasury securities to hold down borrowing costs.

The policymaking committee's point man on deflation
said the risk of further declines in inflation from an already
low level outweighs the risk of a resurgence in inflation.

quot;We are currently in a range where undershooting our
inflation objective by 1 percentage point is more costly
than overshooting by 1 percentage point,quot; he said.

quot;Hence, monetary ease appears to be indicated for a
considerable period,quot; Bernanke said, adding quot;keeping
the funds rate target at or near its current level for an
extended period may be sufficient.quot;

The Fed cut the key federal funds rate target by a
quarter point to a 45-year low of 1.0 percent on June 25
in an effort to boost the economy and encourage a bit
of inflation.

Bernanke said that because of substantial amounts of
excess capacity in the economy, the Fed should be
mindful of continued low inflation.

quot;Even if the economy recovers smartly for the rest of this
year and next, the ongoing slack in the economy may
still lead to continuing disinflation,quot; Bernanke said,
adding quot;stable expectations of inflation and the recent
weakening of the dollar may help to offset that tendency.quot;

Bernanke said he sees the core rate of inflation falling to
0.7 percent, from the current 1.2 percent, by the end of
next year.

Bernanke said that the Fed should be more worried
about slowly rising prices than falling prices.

quot;Inflation in the range of 0.5 percent per year in the
United States in the couple of years, though relatively
unlikely, is considerably more likely than deflation of 0.5
percent per year,quot; Bernanke said.

The remarks indicate that the Fed is in a holding pattern
before deciding what its next move will be, said economist
Drew Matus of Lehman Brothers in New York.

quot;This speech simply confirms that the Fed has a broader
tolerance range in regards to economic developments
than it has had in the past,quot; said Matus.

Bernanke again alluded to the possibility that the central
bank might use non-traditional methods to stimulate the
economy by keeping long-term interest rates low.

quot;Such measures might include, among others, increased
purchases of longer-term government bonds by the Fed,
an announced program of oversupplying bank reserves,
term lending through the discount window at very low rates,
and the issuance of options to borrow from the Fed at low
rates,quot; Bernanke said.

The Fed governor said he expects the nation's
unemployment rate to remain at the current 6.4 percent and
then fall to 6.0 percent by the end of next year.

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