Fed Minutes Reveal Many Officials Still Expect Interest Rate Cut

(RTTNews) - While the conflict in the Middle East has led to a heightened degree of economic uncertainty, the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting revealed many officials still expect to resume cutting interest rates this year.

The minutes of the Fed's March 17-18 meeting said participants emphasized the importance of being "nimble" in adjusting the stance of monetary policy

"Many participants judged that, in time, it would likely become appropriate to lower the target range for the federal funds rate if inflation were to decline in line with their expectations," the Fed said.

However, the Fed noted a couple of these participants had pushed their assessment of the most likely timing of rate cuts further into the future in light of recent readings on inflation.

The comments in the minutes come as officials' latest economic projections provided after the meeting showed they still expect to cut interest rates by a quarter point this year.

At the same time, the Fed said some participants judged there was a strong case for a "two-sided description" of the outlook for rates, reflecting the possibility that a rate increase could be appropriate if inflation were to remain at above-target levels.

"All participants agreed that monetary policy was not on a preset course and would be determined on a meeting-by-meeting basis," the Fed said.

Following the two-day monetary policy meeting, the Fed announced its widely expected decision to once again leave interest rates unchanged.

The Fed said it decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.50 to 3.75 percent after also leaving rates unchanged after its last meeting in January.

Most Fed officials voted in favor of keeping rates unchanged, although Fed Governor Stephen I. Miran continued to prefer cutting rates by a quarter point.

The minutes revealed Miran expressed concern the current stance of policy remained restrictive and was contributing to weak labor demand and elevated downside risks to the labor market.

The Fed's next monetary policy meeting is scheduled for April 28-29, with CME Group's FedWatch Tool currently indicating a 99.5 percent chance the Fed will once again leave rates unchanged.