The England international is in his second season at Forest after Newcastle were forced to sell their academy graduate due to Profit & Sustainability concerns.
Asked about bringing Anderson back to St James' Park, Howe told ChronicleLive: "Sentiment never comes into it - it is always about finance. We have not had any discussions on the January window.
"We're too focused on the amount of games we have. That will take focus for now.
"Certainly paying fees like that (£120m), and I am not sure we are going to be in a position to do that. I am talking about that without any knowledge on January.
"It is just not really a window that big fees are usually paid."
Howe added: "There is always a long-term management of PSR and long-term management on our financial situation. We can't let one transfer unbalance that."