Washington, Aug 17 (Globe Live Media).- Despite having raised interest rates by 0.75 points at their last meeting in late July, the members of the open markets committee of the US Federal Reserve (Fed) recognized then that it could be appropriate to slow down the frenetic pace of climbs.
This has been known this Wednesday after the publication of the minutes of the meeting in which the participants considered that, now that monetary policy has been tightened, “it would probably be appropriate at some point to slow down the rate hikes” while ” the effects” of those that have already been made “on economic activity and inflation” are evaluated.
The inflation rate stood at 8.5% in July, six tenths less than the previous month thanks to the drop in fuel prices.
On July 27, the United States Federal Reserve (Fed) approved the fourth consecutive rise in rates and the second in a row of 0.75 points and, according to its president, Jerome Powell, another “unusually high” increase in September is not ruled out. if inflation continues to rise.
At this meeting, however, part of the attendees recognized that the increases could be moderated in a “likely” scenario in which inflation moderates and with a “slower, but still positive, economic growth.”
The increase in July by the Fed was the fourth since March and with it the official interest rate of the world’s largest economy moved to a range of between 2.25 and 2.5%.
Until last June, the Fed had not raised the official interest rate by 0.75 points since 1994, when, under the direction of the historic Alan Greenspan, the US central bank carried out a series of rate hikes to try to avoid a runaway rise in inflation.