Posted by Stephen Mills; Group1A
As they prepare to open a two-day meeting Tuesday, Federal Reserve policymakers are weighing whether to launch new programs or expand existing ones to spur lending, get Americans spending again and lift the country out of recession.
Any decisions would come Wednesday.
To try to revive the economy, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues already have slashed a key lending rate to banks to a record low.
Economists predict the Fed will leave that rate near zero at this week's meeting and probably through the rest of the year.
The financial crisis has thrown millions of Americans out of work and forced a growing number of banks out of business.
The Fed's efforts have helped ease some credit and financial stresses. But those markets are still far from operating normally, Bernanke and other Fed officials have acknowledged.
"The world is suffering through the worst financial crisis since the 1930s," Bernanke said in a speech last week.
"Until we stabilize the financial system, a sustainable economic recovery will remain out of reach." But the Fed chairman does believe America's recession "probably" will end this year if the government does succeed in bolstering the banking system.
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