The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will reduce the amount of bonds it purchases each month starting in 2014, the global lender's chief said Friday. "In terms of our hypothesis for next year's [economic] forecast, I think we have assumed a very slight decline" in monthly purchases made by the Fed, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told a Washington news conference. The U.S. central bank has been buying $85 billion a month in bonds and mortgage-backed securities to keep long-term interest rates at record lows, fuelling economic growth and job creation. Critics argue that the policy, if maintained too long, could spark inflation.
