(Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve officials launched an economic rescue plan in record time last month as the coronavirus pandemic spread, reaching decisions that may shape the global economy for decades to come in the space of a few frantic weeks. If past practice is a guide, the minutes will provide detail on the Fed decisions announced on March 3 and March 15 after Fed Chair Jerome Powell convened emergency meetings as the scale of the pandemic and its risk to the U.S. economy became clear. The readout may also include their discussions of a slate of related actions that flowed from those two meetings. Barely five weeks before the surprise rate cut on March 3, Powell and his colleagues had wrapped up their first meeting of the year on Jan. 29 with an air of cautious optimism. It looked like 2020 could be a year of steady growth and continued strength in the job market, a fresh updraft after a rocky 2019 in which the Fed cut rates three times to blunt the effects of the Trump administration's trade war with China.

Source: International New York Times April 08, 2020 04:52 UTC