Federal Reserve Meeting Minutes: Agree to Maintain Interest Rates Steady, Economic Outlook Remains Highly Uncertain
On August 20 local time, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held on July 29-30. The minutes indicate that the Federal Reserve agreed to keep the federal funds rate target range at 4.25%-4.5%. During the monetary policy discussion at this meeting, the committee members unanimously agreed that, although net export fluctuations affected the data, recent indicators suggest that economic activity growth has slowed in the first half of the year. Inflation remains slightly elevated, and the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook remains high.
To support the committee's goals, nearly all members agreed to maintain the federal funds rate target range at 4.25% to 4.5%. Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Governor Christopher Waller voted against the decision to keep the benchmark rate unchanged, instead supporting a 25 basis point rate cut to prevent further weakening of the labor market.