quantitative easing

noun

finance

: a set of government policies that may be implemented by a central bank to increase the money supply in the economy

The Fed has already done plenty with its unique stimulus program of quantitative easing, or QE, the $85 billion-a-month purchase of bonds and mortgage-backed assets that started pumping cash into the system in 2008.

—Rana Foroohar

Speculation is increasing that in an effort to stimulate the sluggish economy, the central bank will soon announce additional quantitative easing, the strategy of buying long-term assets like Treasury bonds to lower long-term interest rates.

—Christine Hauser

Since 2000, the Bank of Japan has progressively increased the intensity of its quantitative easing programs in response to stagnant growth and failures in its banking system.

—Blaine Luetkemeyer

—abbreviation QE

Examples of quantitative easing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2020, as the pandemic took root, the Federal Reserve began buying mortgage bonds and government debt in large quantities — or what is known as quantitative easing. —Angelo Fichera, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2024

After 23 years of quantitative easing, global markets are agitating for Governor Ueda’s team to normalize Tokyo’s interest rate policy. —William Pesek, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024

Monetary Policy Douglas Carr: The Fed responded to the pandemic crisis initially with $3 trillion in securities purchases, among other measures, with an additional $2 trillion of quantitative easing (money-supply growth) into 2022. —Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 9 Dec. 2023

But whether officials feel ready to exit quantitative easing may hinge on a much smaller figure: $71 billion. —William Pesek, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2023

Major central banks including the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank bought hundreds of billions of dollars of bonds under quantitative easing (QE) programs during the pandemic and guided investors on the likely future path of interest rates to give their economies an extra boost. —Tom Fairless, WSJ, 26 June 2023

Deutsche believes that businesses and consumers have not yet adjusted to the current higher interest-rate regime, following a decade or more with rates either negative or effectively zero, as well as near-continuous quantitative easing across the U.S. and Europe. —Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 15 June 2023

Although there are important distinctions, many analysts equated this funding program to a new form of quantitative easing. —Leeor Shimron, Forbes, 3 May 2023

Near-zero interest rates and quantitative easing encourage investors to invite risk, and if those risks turn sour, the Fed may have to provide even more easy money. —Raphaële Chappe, Foreign Affairs, 13 Oct. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1966, in the meaning defined above