Minutes to the Federal Open Market Committee’s March meeting reveal that the U.S. central bank plans to begin reducing its balance sheet as soon as after the FOMC’s May meeting. Policymakers discussed monthly caps for asset runoffs, $35 billion for mortgage-backed securities and $60 billion for Treasuries. The plan includes a phase-in period of three months, or modestly longer, but the monthly total cap of $95 billion is significantly higher than the last time the Federal Reserve tried to shrink its balance sheet. The Fed’s hawkish tone was underscored by the fact that multiple members conceded that at least one rate hike of 50 basis points may be warranted and that they might have voted for one of that magnitude in March but for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine presenting a new challenge to growth. U.S. equity markets slipped further into the red following the minutes’ release, while the yield on the 10-year Treasury note jumped to a three-year high. Real Vision is in San Diego for this week’s Macro Experience event, where we continue to meet face to face with some of our favorite guests. Julian Brigden, co-founder of MI2 Partners, joins Maggie Lake to discuss the FOMC minutes and the central bank’s efforts to fight inflation while supporting growth on today’s Daily Briefing. Want to submit questions? Drop them right here on the Exchange: https://rvtv.io/3NLQFsR.
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