The U.S. Federal Reserve continues to throw more money in to the U.S. financial system to support the sputtering economy.

Thursday, the U.S. central bank said that it would provide up to US$2.3 trillion dollars in loans for all businesses impacted by the growing COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our country’s highest priority must be to address this public health crisis, providing care for the ill and limiting the further spread of the virus,” said Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome H. Powell said in a statement.

“The Fed’s role is to provide as much relief and stability as we can during this period of constrained economic activity, and our actions today will help ensure that the eventual recovery is as vigorous as possible,” he added.

Gold prices have shot higher in reaction to the latest central bank announcement. June gold futures last traded at US$1,722.80 an ounce, up more than two percent on the day.

Commodity analysts have said previously that they can’t be anything but bullish on gold as governments and central banks around the world flood financial markets with liquidity.

Jim Wyckoff, senior technical analyst at Kitco.com said that investors should forget about bazooka analogies to previous stimulus measures. He said this latest announcement is another atomic bomb of liquidity.

“The US$2.3 trillion stimulus means the Fed is all-in and then some on getting the U.S. economy back in shape as soon as possible,” he said.

Wyckoff added that he expects the latest announcement to continue to drive gold prices higher.

“The massive infusion of money into the U.S. financial system cannot help but produce worrisome price inflation down the road. It’s likely the smart-money metals traders have realized this and are buying those hard assets as an inflation hedge,” he said.

The latest announcement from the Federal Reserve comes after a wild March. In three emergency announcements the U.S. central bank bought interest rates down to the zero bound range and introduced unlimited quantitative easing measures.