Bloomberg reported that Fed chairman Ben S. Bernanke is putting investors on notice that the central bank is prepared to begin phasing out one of the most aggressive easing programs in its century-long history later this year.

The Fed will probably taper its $85 billion in monthly bond buying later in 2013 and halt purchases around mid-2014 as long as the world’s largest economy performs in line with Fed projections, Bernanke told reporters after a two-day meeting of the FOMC, Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg quotes a senior economist as saying, “The vast, highly unprecedented, highly accommodative monetary policy stance that’s been so supportive of the recovery has begun to turn. The markets for the next several years or more will have to deal with the withdrawal of that support.”

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