Blog

PT Solid Gold Berjangka | Fed officials saw price pressures in decline at last meeting, minutes show

02:23 04 July in Fiscal & Monetary, PT SGB, SOLID GOLD BERJANGKA | SOLID GROUP
1

The Fed Fiskal & Moneter Risalah PT SGB Solid Group SG Berjangka Solid Gold Berjangka

Solid Gold Berjangka | Federal Reserve officials acknowledged at a previous meeting that the U.S. economy appeared to be slowing and that “price pressures are falling,” but advised an approach to still wait and see before committing to a rate cut, according to minutes of the two-day session held on 11/12.

The minutes, released on Wednesday, pointed out that the weak January reading in the consumer price index in particular, was one of the “many developments in the product and labor market” that supported the view that inflation was falling.

Still, “they didn’t expect it to be appropriate to lower the target range for the federal funds rate until additional information emerged to give greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably towards the 2% target.”

The minutes said there had been only a slight improvement so far, but that move was not warranted despite signs that the economy was heading towards slowing growth and that price pressures were declining.

“The majority of participants rate that economic growth appears to be gradually cooling, and most see the current policy stance as restrictive,” he said, likely to further curb the economy and inflation.

In a vote to stabilize policy rates in the 1-year range of 5.25%-5.50%, according to the minutes, “participants noted that progress in falling inflation has been slower than was expected in 12 months last year,” while “some participants” stressed the need for patience before lowering interest rates, and “some” stressed the need for further action if inflation rekindles. He added that the bank may need to raise interest rates in the future.

Data released on 6/12 showed that the Consumer price index for the 5th month did not rise at all in the month-to-month, and that the Fed’s policy deliberations were delayed.

In addition to interest rates holding steady, policymakers at the 6-month meeting delayed the start of the expected rate cut, with a new forecast showing that Fed officials expected a median cut of only 19 percentage points for this year, against the 3 expected as of the 4-1-month meeting.

The Fed will hold its next policy meeting on 7/30〜31, and the benchmark interest rate is expected to remain stable.

By then policymakers will get an update on the labor market with Friday’s release of the Jobs report for 6 June, the release of the CPI for 7/11/6 and the first estimate of economic growth for 7/25/2.

Source: Reuters