Fed Seen Buying Mortgage Bonds If More Accommodation Needed

Federal Reserve policy makers will probably buy mortgage bonds should the economy warrant more easing, with purchases of all debt totaling $500 billion, according to economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

Forty-six percent of economists say a new round of bond buying would consist entirely of mortgage-backed securities, while 35 percent predict it would also include Treasuries. None of the 56 economists in the survey expect the central bank would purchase only Treasuries.