US Federal Reserve policymakers discussed various risks to the US economy at their meeting last month, but concluded that the big drop in oil prices was likely to end up boosting growth.
Minutes of the Fed’s Dec. 16 and 17 meeting released on Wednesday show that Fed officials believed weakness in the global economy posed some of the biggest risks, particularly if it caused turmoil in global financial markets. However, the Fed officials believed that overall, the sharp declines in oil prices would be beneficial to the economy.
The minutes showed Fed officials were concerned about overreaction in markets to changes in their guidance about future rate hikes and decided to declare their view that the central bank intended to be “patient” in moving toward a rate hike.
The minutes were released with the customary three-week delay. At the meeting, the Fed added that its new language was consistent with its previous guidance that it would keep rates low for a “considerable time.”
Many economists believe that the Fed will not start raising rates until June and might even wait longer if inflation remains persistently below its 2 percent target.
The central bank has kept its benchmark rate near zero for six years since reducing it to a record low in December 2008, when the country was in the grips of the Great Recession and the Fed was struggling to keep the banking system from collapsing during the financial crisis.
US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said at a news conference following last month’s meeting that she believed it was unlikely that the Fed would begin raising rates “for at least the next couple of meetings,” a comment that was seen as ruling out rate hikes at the January and March sessions.
In October last year, the Fed ended its third round of bond buying, which had been intended to keep down long-term borrowing rates. Those bond purchases have boosted the Fed’s investment holdings to close to US$4.5 trillion — more than four times the level when the financial crisis hit in 2008.
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