Officials with the U.S. Federal Reserve agreed last month that they should start reducing emergency pandemic support for the economy in mid-November or mid-December of this year.
Minutes from the September 21 and 22 Federal Open Market Committee meeting that have been released publicly showed that "Participants generally assessed that, provided that the economic recovery remained broadly on track, a gradual tapering process that concluded around the middle of next year would likely be appropriate."
The minutes also showed that central bank officials agreed "…that if a decision to begin tapering purchases occurred at the next meeting, the process of tapering could commence with the monthly purchase calendars beginning in either mid-November or mid-December."
Fed officials last month left interest rates near zero but signaled they were close to beginning to scale back their $120 billion U.S. in monthly asset purchases. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters during a post-meeting press conference that the process could start as soon as November and would likely end around mid-2022.
The meeting minutes showed U.S. central bankers grappling with high uncertainty on both sides of their mandate for full employment and stable prices.
Fed officials also discussed a tapering path, saying they could reduce "The pace of asset purchases by $10 billion U.S. in the case of Treasury securities and $5 billion U.S. in the case of agency mortgage-backed securities."
