Fed Signal on Interest Rates Holds Hope for Trucking

December 27, 2000 11:38 AM, EST

Chairman Alan Greenspan and his colleagues at the Federal Reserve are sending signals that they may soon cut interest rates to stimulate a sagging economy, and the trucking industry has a major stake in the outcome.

At a Dec. 19 meeting, the Fed’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee decided to leave short-term interest rates at their current levels, but the committee members did change their minds about the greatest threats to the U.S. economy.

“The committee believes that the risks are weighted mainly toward conditions that may generate economic weakness in the foreseeable future,” according to a statement.

Five weeks earlier, on Nov. 15, the committee’s judgment was that “risks continue to be weighted mainly toward conditions that may generate heightened inflation pressures in the foreseeable future.”

For the full story, see the Dec. 25 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.