Fed wants more confidence that inflation is moving toward 2% target, meeting minutes indicate
Posted: Apr 10, 2024
- Federal Reserve officials at their March meeting expressed concern that inflation was not moving lower quickly enough - Despite expectations to cut interest rates this year, policymakers were hesitant due to lack of convincing decrease in inflation - The Fed is targeting its benchmark rate between 5.25%-5.5% - FOMC members decided to keep rates steady until gaining greater confidence that inflation was moving towards the 2% annual target - Concerns over high inflation, geopolitical turmoil, rising energy prices, and looser policy adding pressure on prices were discussed - Recent higher-than-expected inflation readings in January and February led to discussions - Consumer prices rose 3.5% in March, above expectations, suggesting hot readings from earlier in the year may not have been an aberration - Market now expects first rate cut to come in September, with just two this year, instead of the previous expectations for June cut - Discussion on the possibility of ending balance sheet reduction, with a cautious approach to be taken - Members believe a cautious approach should be taken in the process of easing quantitative tightening - Most market economists expect the process to begin in the next month or two
Stay ahead of the market with AI stock alerts & AI summaries of the latest earnings, stock ideas for free with Fluid Bot. Sign up now!