March 20–21 · Published April 11, 2018
Jerome H. Powell
March 20–21, 2018 FOMC Minutes
Our reading
The minutes are consistent with the statement because both documents describe the same economic conditions—such as a strengthening labor market, moderate economic growth, and inflation running below 2 percent—and both support the decision to raise the federal funds rate target range to 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 percent, while emphasizing that future rate increases will be gradual and data-dependent.
Our reading compares the minutes of the March 20–21 FOMC meeting with the FOMC statement issued at the end of that meeting, three weeks before the minutes were published.
Vote
- Thomas I. Barkin
- Raphael W. Bostic
- Lael Brainard
- William C. Dudley
- Loretta J. Mester
- Jerome H. Powell
- Randal K. Quarles
- John C. Williams
From the minutes
FOMC minutes
Voting for this action: Jerome H. Powell, William C. Dudley, Thomas I. Barkin, Raphael W. Bostic, Lael Brainard, Loretta J. Mester, Randal K. Quarles, and John C. Williams.
Voting against this action: None.
To support the Committee's decision to raise the target range for the federal funds rate, the Board of Governors voted unanimously to raise the interest rates on required and excess reserve balances 1/4 percentage point, to 1-3/4 percent, effective March 22, 2018. The Board of Governors also voted unanimously to approve a 1/4 percentage point increase in the primary credit rate (discount rate) to 2-1/4 percent, effective March 22, 2018.4
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday-Wednesday, May 1-2, 2018. The meeting adjourned at 9:55 a.m. on March 21, 2018.
What changed from the previous meeting’s minutes
- The FOMC voted to raise the federal funds rate target range to 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 percent from 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 percent.
- The Board of Governors raised the interest rates on required and excess reserve balances to 1-3/4 percent and the primary credit rate to 2-1/4 percent.
- The FOMC increased the monthly Treasury securities rollover threshold to $18 billion and the agency MBS reinvestment threshold to $12 billion, effective in April.
- Participants cited tariffs and retaliatory trade actions as downside risks to the U.S. economy, a new concern not mentioned previously.
- The economic outlook was described as strengthened beyond the current quarter, with fiscal policy expected to provide greater impetus than previously thought.
- The next meeting was scheduled for May 1-2, 2018, instead of March 20-21, 2018.
Summary generated automatically from the two documents.