In a September 27 speech to the World Affairs Council of Jacksonville, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta president Dennis Lockhart spoke about the maturity extension program adopted by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in mid-September. The program will sell $400 billion of short-maturity Treasury securities and buy longer-maturity ones by June 2012.

Lockhart said that the Fed's actions should be viewed together with other policy elements already in place as part of the larger effort to promote economic recovery. He believes the FOMC's actions will lower the cost of borrowing for both consumers and businesses, freeing up money for other uses.