March 19–20 · Published April 10, 2024
Jerome H. Powell
March 19–20, 2024 FOMC Minutes
Our reading
The minutes read somewhat more dovish relative to the statement because they reveal that almost all participants judged it would be appropriate to move policy to a less restrictive stance at some point this year if the economy evolved broadly as expected, and they explicitly discussed the risk of maintaining a restrictive stance for too long, which could unduly weaken economic activity and employment.
Our reading compares the minutes of the March 19–20 FOMC meeting with the FOMC statement issued at the end of that meeting, three weeks before the minutes were published.
Vote
- Thomas I. Barkin
- Michael S. Barr
- Raphael W. Bostic
- Michelle W. Bowman
- Lisa D. Cook
- Mary C. Daly
- Philip N. Jefferson
- Adriana D. Kugler
- Loretta J. Mester
- Jerome H. Powell
- Christopher J. Waller
- John C. Williams
From the minutes
FOMC minutes
Voting for this action: Jerome H. Powell, John C. Williams, Thomas I. Barkin, Michael S. Barr, Raphael W. Bostic, Michelle W. Bowman, Lisa D. Cook, Mary C. Daly, Philip N. Jefferson, Adriana D. Kugler, Loretta J. Mester, and Christopher J. Waller.
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 of the Federal Reserve System voted unanimously to maintain the interest rate paid on reserve balances at 5.4 percent, effective March 21, 2024. The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System voted unanimously to approve the establishment of the primary credit rate at the existing level of 5.5 percent, effective March 21, 2024.
It was agreed that the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday–Wednesday, April 30–May 1, 2024. The meeting adjourned at 9:55 a.m. on March 20, 2024.
What changed from the previous meeting’s minutes
- Participants noted the two most recent monthly core and headline inflation readings were firmer than expected.
- Almost all participants judged it appropriate to move policy to a less restrictive stance at some point this year.
- Participants expressed that recent data had not increased their confidence inflation was moving sustainably to 2 percent.
- Participants cited slowing growth in China and CRE market deterioration as new downside risks to economic activity.
- Participants noted recent retail sales readings had been soft, a change from prior stronger consumption reports.
- Participants mentioned uncertainty about immigration's influence on labor supply and aggregate demand.
Summary generated automatically from the two documents.