Thursday, July 15, 2010

Fed Officials Saw No Need for More Stimulus in June

Part of the excerpt from a July 14 (Bloomberg) article -- Federal Reserve officials saw no need to boost stimulus to the economy while trimming their forecasts for growth and noting that risks to the recovery had increased, minutes of their June meeting showed.

"The economic outlook had softened somewhat and a number of members saw the risks to the outlook as having shifted to the downside," minutes released today in Washington said. "The changes to the outlook were viewed as relatively modest and as not warranting policy accommodation beyond that already in place."

Slowing inflation, constrained household spending and contracting credit prompted Fed policy makers last month to restate a pledge to keep the benchmark lending rate at around zero for "an extended period," the Fed's statement showed.

The minutes indicated that U.S. central bankers were concerned about lingering high unemployment and risks that inflation could decelerate further. If the outlook worsened, the Federal Open Market Committee would need to consider whether additional stimulus was appropriate, the minutes said.

> reading between the lines, it gives credence that the interest rates will remain low for quite a while, which in turn will also mean that interest rates in Singapore will also remain at a historical low. In a seperate article, experts note that since Singapore conducts monetary policy by adjusting its exchage rates, therefore its likely the Sing-Dollar will appreciate in the coming quarters. This translates to a 'perfect-conditions' for assest prices to appreciate further as liquidy is good and money is cheap with foreign funds inflow expected to increase too.

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