October 5 · Published November 18, 1999
Statement·Presser·Minutes
AGAlan GreenspanOctober 5, 1999 FOMC Minutes
Our reading
The minutes are consistent with the statement because both documents reflect the FOMC's decision to maintain the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 percent while adopting a directive biased toward a possible firming of policy, as evidenced by the minutes' detailed discussion of the majority's support for an asymmetric directive and the statement's explicit note that "prospective developments are more likely to warrant an increase than a decrease in the federal funds rate operating objective during the intermeeting period."
Our reading compares the minutes of the October 5 FOMC meeting with the FOMC statement issued at the end of that meeting, three weeks before the minutes were published.
Vote
- Boehne
- Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.
- Edward M. Gramlich
- Alan Greenspan
- Edward W. Kelley, Jr.
- William J. McDonough
- Robert D. McTeer, Jr.
- Meyers
- Michael H. Moskow
- Stern
From the minutes
FOMC minutes
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday, November 16, 1999.
The meeting adjourned at 1:25 p.m.
Donald L. Kohn
Secretary
What changed from the previous meeting’s minutes
- The federal funds rate target was held at 5-1/4 percent, unchanged from the August increase.
- The directive shifted from symmetric to asymmetric, biased toward restraint.
- M3 growth for the year through September was just above its range, versus approximating the upper end in July.
- The dollar's trade-weighted value changed little, after depreciating slightly in the prior period.
- The vote was unanimous, with no dissents, after McTeer opposed the August tightening.
- The staff forecast saw growth around or slightly below potential, versus gradually moderating to potential.
Summary generated automatically from the two documents.