The Federal Open Market Committee had no further policy moves to announce after their meetings this week. This follows lowering rates dramatically in March, to a minimum level of 0.00-0.25%, to counteract anticipated economic effects of the coronavirus. Other current tools being used include unlimited buying of treasury and agency mortgage-backed bonds, designed to keep interest rates contained to a desired low level. Extensive facilities are also in place to help provide liquidity for domestic fixed income markets and even some ETFs.
In their formal statement, the FOMC discussed the hardships from the virus, and disruptions caused. The zero-rate target is expected to remain until they’re ‘confident that the economy has weathered recent events’. With a limited set of policy tools remaining, the public’s confidence in their role in supporting the economy and financial markets as needed remains very important.
The metrics behind the key decision pillars have deteriorated sharply in the last month or two, from relatively strong to about the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s:
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