Federal Reserve cuts interest rates in divisive vote
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates Wednesday in an unusually narrow vote, underscoring the divides among bank officials over the effect rate cuts will have on inflation and employment.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the panel of Fed officials responsible for setting monetary policy, dropped its baseline interest rate down to a range of 3.5 to 3.75, a reduction of 0.25 percentage points.
The FOMC approved the rate cut by a vote of 9 to 3, a smaller margin than the typical Fed rate decision. Fed board member Stephen Miran preferred to cut rates by 0.5 percentage points, while Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee and Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid called for no cut at all.
The Fed chair, who also leads the FOMC, is responsible for guiding the committee to a consensus on rate decisions while giving members room to express differing views through economic projections and public remarks.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/federal-reserve-cuts-interest-rates-in-divisive-vote/ar-AA1S6HYW?ocid=nl_article_link