quantitative easing

American  

noun

Economics.

1. the policy by which a central bank creates money and uses it to purchase financial assets, thereby increasing the money supply and stimulating a weak economy. QE

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quantitative easing British  

noun

1. the practice of increasing the supply of money in order to stimulate economic activity

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Etymology

Origin of quantitative easing

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

quantitative easing

After the 2008-09 financial panic, central banks kept interest rates at historically low levels and engaged in quantitative easing by buying long-dated assets, including government bonds and mortgage-backed securities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Warsh has been a longstanding critic of purchasing assets to stimulate economic activity, known as quantitative easing, when interest rates are pinned near zero.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Later dubbed "quantitative easing", such upheavals included the 1980s savings and loan crisis, the first Gulf War, the Mexican peso crisis and - shortly after he had retired - the global credit crisis in 2008.

From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026

Meanwhile, central banks globally have substantial holdings of government bonds and mortgage-backed securities, much of it acquired as part of quantitative easing programs.

From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026

One kind of monetary policy, which involves the central bank buying private assets, is chunked as quantitative easing.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker