Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bankmay start dialing down its unprecedented bond-buying program thisyear and end it entirely in mid-2014 if the economy finallyachieves the sustainable growth the Fed has sought since therecession ended in 2009.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) today left the monthlypace of bond purchases unchanged at $85 billion, while saying that“downside risks to the outlook for the economy and the labormarket” have diminished. Policy makers raised their growthforecasts for next year to a range of 3 percent to 3.5 percent andreduced their outlook for unemployment to as low as 6.5percent.

“If the incoming data are broadly consistent with this forecast,the committee currently anticipates that it would be appropriate tomoderate the pace of purchases later this year,” Bernanke said in apress conference in Washington. If later reports meet the Fed'sexpectations, “we will continue to reduce the pace of purchases inmeasured steps through the first half of next year, endingpurchases around mid-year.”