The most important points included in the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting yesterday:
– Expectations of a “moderate recession” in the United States this year, followed by a recovery during the next two years
– Monetary policy makers in the bank revised their expectations of interest rates by reducing the impact of the recent banking crisis
Raising the benchmark lending rate by 0.25% to a range of 4.75%-5%, in an attempt to balance the risks of the credit crisis and economic data that indicate continued price pressures.
The Federal Reserve’s minutes are in line with expectations of raising interest rates by 25 basis points in May and then suspending the hikes. Raising interest in this way is in line with economists’ expectations, as it is unlikely that the slowdown in the inflation rate for the month of March will dissuade the Fed from raising interest at its next meeting.
