Policymakers at the Federal
Reserve met today to consider their strategy on US short-term interest rates, as concerns over a potential repeat of last year's recession mount.
The central bank's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee began its meeting at about 9 a.m. (2 p.m. Irish time), a Fed spokeswoman said.
The Committee traditionally announces its decision at about 2.15 p.m. (7.15 p.m. Irish time).
While most analysts don't expect the Fed to move rates below their current four-decade lows, opinion is split on whether the Fed will signal growing concern by shifting its assessment of dangers facing the economy towards weakness.
At its last meeting in June, the Fed said the dangers were balanced between weakness and inflation.
The Committee will decide whether to keep the trend-setting federal funds rate at 1.75 per cent.
That is a four-decade low for the trend-setting rate reached after the Fed cut rates an aggressive 11 times to soften the impact of an economic downturn. The rate has been unchanged so far this year and, just weeks ago, it was commonly thought the next move in borrowing costs would be upward.
However, the recovery seen as all but certain in the early months of the year has shown signs of slowing recently.
This has made most economists push out their expectations for when rates might actually rise until well into 2003 and has convinced a handful of them the Fed may actually cut rates again before the end of this year.
The Fed's rate deliberations coincide with a presidential economic forum in Waco, Texas. Ihe conference is the Bush administration's latest effort to reassure investors, businesses and consumers the economy's foundations are solid.