Bullard: Keep MBS program active

NEW YORK: A senior Federal Reserve official said the central bank should keep alive its mortgage-related assets purchase program beyond a planned end-date to give policymakers more flexibility as they help the economy recover from a painful recession.

"I would just like to keep them active at a very low level," St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard told reporters after giving a speech at an event organized by Princeton University students in New York.

The Fed has committed to buying $1.25 trillion of mortgage-backed securities by the end of March. The Fed began buying MBS, mortgage agency debt and longer-term Treasury securities after it had cut rates to near zero but wanted to continue to provide a boost to the economy.