MNI BRIEF: Rosengren Says Substantial Progress May Come in 2H

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said Wednesday the "substantial further progress" benchmark for looking at reduced bond purchases could be met in the second half of the year.

"We need to have a substantial improvement for us to begin tapering. It is quite possible that we'll see those conditions as we get to the latter half of the year," he said in a question-and-answer session at a Boston College event when asked about how the Fed will communicate slowing purchases.

When QE taper talk begins the central bank will have to think about at "what speed we taper the Treasuries versus the mortgage-backed securities," he said. "The mortgage market probably doesn't need as much support now, and in fact one of my financial stability concerns would be if the housing market gets too overheated."