The Federal Reserve now projects the nation’s economy to fall into a “mild recession” by year’s end, according to minutes from the Fed’s Open Markets Committee meeting March 21-22 as the central bank navigated through an unexpected crisis in the country’s banking sector, Trend reports citing Forbes.
Banking turmoil led central bank officials to downgrade their economic forecasts, according to the notes released Wednesday afternoon.
Though all FOMC members ultimately voted in favor of a 25 basis-point increase to the federal funds rate, several officials considered backing a pause to the hikes in the wake of the string of bank failures.
The Fed continues to see “slower-than-expected progress on disinflation,” according to the minutes.
Stocks were largely flat, maintaining modest gains from earlier trading following the release of the latest inflation report.