The account said the 10 Fed officials who vote on monetary policy remained committed to a policy of gradual rate increases because they continued to see balanced risks of faster and slower growth. The Fed raised its benchmark rate in December to a range of 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent. But Fed officials have emphasized that they do not want to change their plans in anticipation of potential changes in fiscal policy. Indeed, things were so quiet that some Fed officials had turned to fretting about the lack of excitement. Fed officials are now prohibited from speaking about monetary policy for 10 days before a policy-making meeting, rather than one week.

Source: New York Times February 22, 2017 19:07 UTC