During their most recent meeting in January, most members of the Federal Open Market Committee remained concerned about easing monetary policy too quickly, saying they needed more data to feel confident that inflation was moving sustainably toward the Federal Reserve 2% target, according to minutes from the meeting released today. The committee voted at the meeting to maintain the federal funds rate at 5.25%-5.5%. Only two participants pointed to downside risks to the economy associated with maintaining an overly restrictive policy stance for too long, according to the minutes.
In addition, the minutes show that FOMC members agreed to remove language from their official meeting statement noting the resilience of the U.S. banking system, believing the reassurance was no longer necessary given that stresses caused last year’s bank failures had subsided.
