Economics
Fed Leaves Gradualism Behind With Urgency on Rates, Assets
- Officials want to start balance-sheet runoff after liftoff
- Markets raise bets Fed will increase interest rates in March
This article is for subscribers only.
Federal Reserve officials are preparing to move quicker than the last time they tightened monetary policy in a bid to keep the U.S. economy from overheating amid high inflation and near-full employment.
Prospects for another year of growth above the economy’s speed limit with inflation already strong -- along with a larger balance sheet that’s suppressing longer-term borrowing costs -- “could warrant a potentially faster pace of policy rate normalization,” minutes from the Dec. 14-15 Federal Open Market Committee meeting said Wednesday.