PANews November 27 news, according to Jin Ten reports, the minutes of the Federal Reserve's most recent policy meeting show that Fed officials generally support a cautious approach to future rate cuts as long as the economy remains robust and inflation continues to cool slowly. According to the minutes, "Participants expect that if the data aligns with expectations, inflation continues to decline to 2%, and the economy remains near maximum employment, it may be appropriate to gradually shift towards a more neutral policy stance over time."
The minutes of the November meeting show that some officials indicated that if inflation continues to rise, the Fed may pause rate cuts and keep borrowing costs at restrictive levels. Some officials pointed out that if the economy or labor market worsens, rate cuts could be accelerated. Policymakers also noted that the lack of clarity regarding the so-called neutral interest rate is another reason for caution. According to the minutes, many officials stated that uncertainty "complicates the assessment of the degree of monetary policy restriction, and they believe that gradually reducing policy restrictions is appropriate." Over the past year, officials' estimates of the neutral interest rate have steadily increased, but it is still unclear how far rates are from this level. It is reported that Fed officials will hold their last policy meeting of the year on December 17-18.
In response, "Fed mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos wrote that the Fed's meeting minutes suggest that if inflation stagnates, rate cuts will become cautious.