Fed rates, minute: towards further budget reduction, uncertainty on economic and employment outlook

“All the exponents (of the FOMC, (the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy arm) were in favor of further reductions in the Fed’s balance sheet”. This is what we read in the minutes of the Fed led by Jerome Powell, relating to the last meeting of the Fomc of January 31-February 1, which ended with the announcement of a rise in US interest rates by 25 basis points, to the range between 4.5% and 4.75%, a record since October of 2007.

The minutes revealed “uncertainty about the outlook for the economy and the labor market” in a context of “high inflation”.

“The risks to the economy – reads the minutes of the Fed – are facing downwards”.