- Federal Reserve officials discussed moving the U.S. central bank to a "restrictive" policy stance to counter inflation through more fierce interest rate increases, the Financial Times reports.
- However, the policy could undermine the strong recovery in the jobs market.
- Some Fed officials also saw risks to commodities markets stemming from the disruptions associated with the Ukraine war.
- Multiple officials saw risks to financial stability related to the tightening cycle that could hurt the liquidity of Treasury securities markets and the private sector's intermediation capacity.
- Most U.S. monetary policymakers agreed to increase the Fed's primary interest rate between 0.75% - 1%, by 50 basis points at the next set of meetings.
- The officials backed the central bank's plans to reduce its balance sheet and consider selling mortgage-backed securities as an additional tool.
- Tackling the high inflation was currently the central bank's most significant challenge while retaining price stability to prevent the low-income households from getting bankrupt.
- Photo by Pexels via Pixabay
