Fed retunes message for 2019, opening door to ‘slow down’

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON: With the Federal Reserve expected next month to raise rates to what some US central bankers believe is at or near a neutral level, Chairman Jerome Powell is retuning his message to signal a more cautious approach on further rate hikes next year.

It is not clear whether the idea of perhaps nudging rates above neutral, as he had earlier suggested, is still on the table, or if it means he expects fewer rate hikes, or even a pause.

But minutes from the Fed’s Nov 7-8 policy-setting meeting, released on Thursday, as well as remarks over the last two weeks, point to a reassessment of the Fed’s longstanding promise of “further gradual rate increases” that would extend two years of nearly uninterrupted quarterly tightening.

“Many participants indicated that it might be appropriate at some upcoming meetings to begin to transition to statement language that placed greater emphasis on the evaluation of incoming data in assessing the economic and policy outlook,” the minutes said.

The transition comes as the Fed’s target policy rate, left at 2 per cent to 2.25 per cent in November, grinds closer to the 2.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent range of Fed officials’ views of where a rate that neither boosts nor cools a healthy economy lies.

Back in August, Powell had rejected a too rigid reliance on an abstract guidepost like the neutral rate to shape policy, saying it could lead to costly mistakes. Yet he has kept talking about it.

His renewed focus on the ‘neutral’ level of interest rates as a potential turning point for policy that until now has been on a steady tightening path is echoed by the minutes.

Ironically, it was a reference to that guidepost that led to what in retrospect looks like a communication stumble, when stocks tumbled in early October after Powell’s remark that interest rates were a ‘long way’ from neutral and might even need to rise above that level.

Market reaction reflected investors’ fears the Fed might end up making the kind of mistake Powell talked about – tightening policy too much because of a false read on where neutral is, at a time when clouds had begun to form on the economic horizon.

There are many reasons why Powell would pick now to begin shifting his footing. Since a September news conference when he painted a rosy picture of where things stood, some economic indicators have softened; others, such as wage growth, have firmed, leaving the Fed for the first time in a long time pulled in different directions.

Then there is President Donald Trump, who has berated him for raising rates. — Reuters