Federal Reserve officials at their March meeting expressed concern that inflation wasn’t moving lower quickly enough, though they still expected to cut interest rates at some point this year.
At a meeting in which the Federal Open Market Committee again voted to hold short-term borrowing rates steady, policymakers also showed misgivings that inflation, while easing, wasn’t doing so in a convincing enough fashion. The Fed currently targets its benchmark rate between 5.25%-5.5%
As such, FOMC members voted to keep language in the post-meeting statement that they wouldn’t be cutting rates until they “gained greater confidence” that inflation was on a steady path back to the central bank’s 2% annual target.
“Participants generally noted their uncertainty about the persistence of high inflation and expressed the view that recent data had not increased their confidence that inflation was moving sustainably down to 2 percent,” the minutes stated.
In what apparently was a lengthy discussion about inflation at the meeting, officials cited geopolitical turmoil and rising energy prices as risks to pushing inflation higher. They also cited the potential that looser policy could add to price pressures.
On the downside, they cited a more balanced labor market, enhanced technology along with economic weakness in China and a deteriorating commercial real estate market.
They also discussed higher-than-expected inflation readings in January and February. Chair Jerome Powell said that it’s possible the two months readings were caused by seasonal issues, though he added it’s hard to tell at this point. There were members at the meeting who disagreed.
www.cnbc.com/2024/04/10/fed-meeting-minutes-point-to-caution-on-inflation.html