Note, this is not the four-letter word summary of the Federal Open Market Committee minutes
Nope, this is what jumped out at me from Westpac's morning note:
- transitory .... caveat ruffled markets
Pretty much nails it IMO. But, a bit more detail (bolding mine):
- The FOMC minutes indicated a hike could be seen "soon."
- However, "members generally judged it would be prudent" to wait to ensure the first quarter's slowdown was temporary before tightening further.
- The minutes did indicate that the slowdown was probably transitory, participants generally agreeing that the medium term outlook on the economy was little changed.
- The minutes also included an outline of a plan regarding balance sheet reduction, introducing a gradually increasing reduction cap, which almost all policymakers supported.
- A June hike still seems to be on the table, but the outlook beyond is slightly more uncertain given the potential for balance sheet shrinkage to start in late 2017.
(bolding mine)
