TechFlow news: Minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting revealed that Fed officials last month strongly leaned toward cutting interest rates at their September policy meeting, with several policymakers even open to lowering borrowing costs immediately.
Fed officials held rates steady during their July FOMC meeting but paved the way for a rate cut at the September 17–18 gathering. The minutes indicated that "a large majority" of policymakers "judged that if incoming data continued to align with expectations, it likely would be appropriate to ease policy at the next meeting."
The minutes also noted that "many" Fed officials viewed the current interest rate level as restrictive, and "some participants" believed that keeping rates unchanged would further increase the monetary policy drag on economic activity amid持续 cooling inflation pressures.
The minutes further showed that although all Fed officials agreed to keep rates unchanged in July, "several" policymakers said the progress made in reducing inflation, coupled with rising unemployment, "provided a reasonable rationale for lowering the target range by 25 basis points at this meeting, or they could have supported such a decision."
