Fed Chairman Jerome Powell led a majority of his colleagues to provide more explicit guidance around the central bank’s low-rate intentions last month. Fed officials laid out a three-part test before they consider lifting short-term rates from near zero. Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan favored weaker guidance, while Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari preferred a bolder and less qualified description. Fed officials have bought trillions of dollars of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities to repair broken financial markets since March. Some Fed officials last month said they should “further assess and communicate” at future meetings how those asset purchases would be maintained.

Source: Wall Street Journal October 07, 2020 18:02 UTC