연준, 금리 동결했지만 향후 인하 가능성 시사

Reuters
2019년 06월 20일 오후 5:02 업데이트: 2019년 07월 09일 오후 1:51
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미국 중앙은행인 연방준비위원회(Fed·연준)가 19일(현지시간) 기준금리를 동결했다. 그러나 향후 인하 가능성을 남겼다.


WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged on June 19 but signaled that it could cut interest rates by as much as half a percentage point over the remainder of this year in response to economic uncertainty and a drop in expected inflation.

The Fed, which held rates steady after the end of its latest two-day policy meeting, said it “will act as appropriate to sustain” a nearly 10-year economic expansion and dropped a promise to be “patient” in adjusting rates. Nearly half its policymakers now show a willingness to lower borrowing costs over the next six months.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange
Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, on June 19, 2019. (Brendan McDermid/Reuters)

Even policymakers who did not write down a forecast for a rate cut this year believe “that the case for a somewhat more accommodative policy has strengthened,” Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a news conference following the meeting.

The baseline outlook remains “favorable,” he said, and “there was not much support for cutting rates now at this meeting.” But, he added, there will be plenty of incoming data in the near term that will help policymakers figure out if the risks of a less favorable outcome continue to rise.

A trader looks at a screen at the New York Stock Exchange
A trader looks at a screen as a television announces that the Fed rate will remain unchanged on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange in New York, on June 19, 2019. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters)

“We will act as needed, including promptly if that’s appropriate, and use our tools to sustain the expansion,” he said.

Interest-rate futures surged after the Fed’s policy statement and projections and Powell’s remarks, showing traders are now betting heavily on three rate hikes by the end of the year.