PANews reported on November 27 that according to Jinshi, the minutes of the Fed's latest policy meeting showed that Fed officials generally supported being cautious about future interest rate cuts while the economy remained solid and inflation cooled slowly. According to the minutes, "Participants expected that if the data were similar to expectations, inflation continued to decline to 2% and the economy remained near maximum employment, then a gradual shift to a more neutral policy stance over time might be appropriate."
Minutes from the November meeting showed that some officials said the Fed could pause rate cuts and keep borrowing costs at restrictive levels if inflation persists. Some officials noted that rate cuts could be accelerated if the economy or labor market deteriorates. Policymakers also pointed to the lack of clarity about the so-called neutral rate as a reason for caution. According to the minutes, many officials said uncertainty "complicates assessments of the extent of monetary policy restrictions, and they believe that a gradual reduction in policy restrictions is appropriate." Officials' estimates of the neutral rate have risen steadily over the past year, but it remains unclear how far rates are from that level. Fed officials are expected to hold their last policy meeting of the year on December 17-18.
In this regard, Nick Timiraos, the "Federal Reserve mouthpiece", wrote that the Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggested that if inflation stagnates, interest rate cuts will become cautious.
