Central Bank 2024 Resolutions

New Years offer many an opportunity for resolutions.  Perhaps you’ve made a few this year.  If you have, let Atlas know if we can help you with any of them.  While last Tuesday’s meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee didn’t exactly serve as a resolution, they do offer some insight into how America’s central bank is thinking about the coming year.

Based on the minutes from their December 12-13, 2023 meeting, there seem to be a handful of objectives they have for this year.  First, they want to remain vigilant on inflation, continuing to steer the rate of changes for prices down toward the 2.0 percent level.  They’ll also continue monitoring growth for both employment and the economy; this of course is less of a resolution and more a congressional mandate.  They’ll continue evaluating the impacts of monetary policy, keeping an eye on lagging effects which might become more obvious as 2024 unfolds.  While their policy actions have been rather unidirectional since they started raising rates last year, they want to remain flexible in an effort to manage risks which might crop up as a result of monetary tightening which has already occurred.  Finally, they resolve to remain clear in their communications about both policy and the economic outlook underpinning policy changes.  

Whether you’ve ever made resolutions or not, you probably appreciate how difficult they are to maintain.  According to this article from Forbes, just one percent of resolutions last exactly 12 months.  To be fair, another six percent last beyond that point, but that still means 93 percent will not make it to the end of this year.  Central bankers, however, have mandates, so this might help them stick to their goals, no matter how 2024 unfolds.