ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Thursday that while the central bank's massive bond buying program impacted financial markets immediately, its effect on the broad economy will lag by as much as a year.
"The effects of QE2 (the second round of quantitative easing) would be expected to lag by six to 12 months," Bullard said at a conference.
Gauging the effects of the easing program on the economy is complicated by shocks experienced in early 2011, he said. Fed policymakers have blamed disruptions from the devastating earthquake in Japan and the European debt crisis for slowing the economic recovery.
