April 28–29 · Published May 20, 2020
Jerome H. Powell
April 28–29, 2020 FOMC Minutes
Our reading
The minutes are consistent with the statement because they explicitly reaffirm the Federal Reserve's commitment to "using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy," maintaining the federal funds rate target range at 0 to 1/4 percent, and continuing asset purchases and other measures to support credit flow and market functioning, all while acknowledging the pandemic's severe economic toll and downside risks.
Our reading compares the minutes of the April 28–29 FOMC meeting with the FOMC statement issued at the end of that meeting, three weeks before the minutes were published.
Vote
- Michelle W. Bowman
- Lael Brainard
- Richard H. Clarida
- Patrick Harker
- Robert S. Kaplan
- Neel Kashkari
- Loretta J. Mester
- Jerome H. Powell
- Randal K. Quarles
- John C. Williams
From the minutes
FOMC minutes
Voting for this action: Jerome H. Powell, John C. Williams, Michelle W. Bowman, Lael Brainard, Richard H. Clarida, Patrick Harker, Robert S. Kaplan, Neel Kashkari, Loretta J. Mester, and Randal K. Quarles.
Voting against this action: None.
Consistent with the Committee's decision to leave the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged, the Board of Governors voted unanimously to leave the interest rates on required and excess reserve balances at 0.10 percent. The Board of Governors also voted unanimously to approve establishment of the primary credit rate at the existing level of 0.25 percent, effective April 30, 2020.
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday–Wednesday, June 9–10, 2020. The meeting adjourned at 10:10 a.m. on April 29, 2020.
What changed from the previous meeting’s minutes
- All participants favored maintaining the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent, versus most favoring a cut in March.
- The directive added agency commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) to purchase categories.
- The directive removed specific purchase minimums of $500 billion Treasury and $200 billion agency MBS.
- Loretta J. Mester voted with the majority; no dissents were recorded.
- The Board left the primary credit rate at 0.25 percent instead of lowering it by 150 basis points.
- The directive allowed the Chair to temporarily increase the per-counterparty reverse repo limit above $30 billion.
Summary generated automatically from the two documents.