Two governors on the board, Stephen Miran and Christopher Waller, voted against keeping the rates steady, instead suggesting lowering rates by 0.25%.
State of the Union: It’s the first time the central bank has paused interest rate cuts since July. The post Federal Reserve Holds Rates Steady appeared first on The American Conservative .
The Federal Reserve declined to cut the U.S. interest rate at the Wednesday meeting of its board of governors, keeping the benchmark at 3.5–3.75 percent. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell noted that the strong economy and stable levels of unemployment made further rate cuts unnecessary in the view of the board. Inflation also remains somewhat elevated, a circumstance lower interest rates could aggravate. Two members of the board dissented and voted for a quarter-point cut, including Stephen Miran, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to fill a temporary vacancy on the board. The other dissenter, Christopher Waller, is on the shortlist of candidates to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair when his term expires in May…Open