Central Banks
Fed Officials Lean Toward Pause in June, But Not Ready to Stop
- ‘Several’ said more tightening ‘may not be necessary’: minutes
- ‘Some’ said more increases would ‘likely be warranted’
Federal Reserve officials are leaning toward pausing interest-rate increases at their meeting in June amid heightened uncertainty over the outlook, but signaled they aren’t yet ready to call an end to their battle against stubborn inflation.
Policymakers at their May 2-3 meeting said they were uncertain about how much additional policy tightening might be needed, and weighed the slower-than-expected progress on inflation and resilient labor market against the likelihood of a credit crunch following recent banking turmoil, according to minutes from the meeting released in Washington on Wednesday.