Fed officials say US economy probably needs more aid
Published 2 hours ago on August 19, 2020
By Agence France-Presse
Federal Reserve bankers feared the US economy would need more aid to weather the coronavirus downturn as previsions of a key spending measure expired, according to meeting minutes released Wednesday.
The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) held a regularly scheduled meeting in July as the coronavirus pandemic caused one of the sharpest economic downturns the United States has seen in recent history, with tens of millions of people losing their jobs since mid-March.
Around the same time, Congress authorized the $2.2 trillion CARES Act spending measure that included loans and grants to small businesses, extra money for unemployed people and direct payments to all Americans, measures that have been credited with blunting the downturn somewhat.
The FOMC cut its benchmark lending rate to zero while rolling out trillions of dollars in liquidity as the pandemic intensified. At the July meeting, they kept the rate unchanged but the meeting minutes show some FOMC members worrying about what would happen when the stimulus measures ran their course.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/fed-officials-say-us-economy-probably-needs-more-aid/
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