PANews reported on January 9 that according to Cailian Press, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its December monetary policy meeting on its official website on Wednesday local time. The minutes showed that considering that inflation risks are still high, Federal Reserve officials have taken a new stance on interest rate cuts and decided to slow down the pace of interest rate cuts in the coming months. The minutes pointed out that participants said that the committee believed that the interest rate level was close to or at a time when it was appropriate to slow down the pace of interest rate cuts. They believed that the pace of interest rate cuts might be slowed down in the future and enter a more cautious operation phase.
And a series of factors indicate that in the current complex economic environment, Fed policymakers believe that monetary policy needs to be adjusted carefully to avoid the negative effects that may be caused by overly aggressive policy adjustments. For example, too rapid interest rate cuts may lead to renewed inflationary pressures. Participants expect inflation to continue to move closer to 2%, although they point out that recent higher-than-expected inflation data and the impact of potential changes in trade and immigration policies indicate that this process may take longer than previously expected. Some participants pointed out that the anti-inflation process may have temporarily stalled or pointed out possible risks.
Nick Timiraos, the "Fed mouthpiece," pointed out that the Fed's minutes further showed that officials were generally willing to keep interest rates unchanged at the upcoming meeting at the end of this month. The minutes said: "Participants said that the committee was at or close to the appropriate level to slow the pace of policy easing." Officials believed that based on their current outlook for economic activity, the Fed could continue to cut interest rates at a slower pace than in recent months.
