pressure on interest rates including mortgage rates and making broader financial conditions more acdaytive. the committee reviews the size and composition of its security holdings regularly and is prepared to adjust those holdings as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery in a context of price stability. the economy's performance over the medium and longer term will depend importantly on the course of fiscal policy. fiscal policy makers confront daunting challenges. as they do so they should keep three objectives in mind. first, to promote economic growth and stability the federal budget must be put on a sustainable long run path. the federal budget deficit which averages about 9% of gdp in the past three fiscal years is likely to narrow in coming years as the economic recovery leads to higher tax revenues and lower income support payments. nevertheless, the cbo project current policies continue the budget deficit would close to 5% of gdp in 2017, when the economy is expected to be near full employment. more over, under current policies and reasonable assumptions the cbo proje