Fed Officials Agreed in May Not to Alter Rates amid Signs of Economic Recovery
WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve policy makers unanimously decided in mid-May to hold interest rates steady amid signs that the recession was ending, the central bank disclosed.</br></br>The Fed hasn't made a move to alter rates since the end of April, and wasn't expected to change that stance at a closed-door meeting last Tuesday and Wednesday.</br></br>A summary of the May 14 meeting of the Fed's Open Market Committee noted that some policy makers wanted to leave the door open for another round of rate reductions. These officials, unsure that the economy was recovering, argued that the risks of keeping too tight a grip on credit exceeded the risks of being too generous.</br></br>No one formally dissented from the consensus, so the officials' identities weren't disclosed. The summary was released Friday after the customary six-week delay.</br></br>Several Fed policy makers stressed the importance of maintaining a steadily growing money supply in order to fuel an economic recovery, the summary said. The issue was revisited last week when the committee was to set money-supply growth targets for 1992. The targets will be disclosed when Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan testifies before Congress next week.