On Monday, the Federal Reserve proposed the sale of interest-bearing term deposits to banks, a development which would be taken forward by the American central bank when it decides to get back some of the funds it had injected into the economy when the financial crisis was at its peak.

With the new tool, Fed is looking to ensure that it can implement an exit strategy before the banking sector, stuffed with the money given by the central bank, sets off inflation.

Under the plan, as explained by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the agency would be issuing the term deposits to banks, at various maturities up-to about a year, and this would, in turn, encourage banks to keep their reserves at the Fed instead of lending them out.

"The Federal Reserve has addressed the financial market turmoil of the past two years in part by greatly expanding its balance sheet and by supplying an unprecedented volume of reserves to the banking system. Term deposits could be part of the Federal Reserve's tool kit to drain reserves, if necessary, and thus support the implementation of monetary policy", explained Fed.

Michael Feroli, an economist at J. P. Morgan Chase, said "it's another step forward in the exit-strategy infrastructure, but it's been well flagged in advance, so it's not a surprise".