FOMC Excerpt: Views On Yield Curve Mixed -Text>

WASHINGTON (MNI) - The following are excerpts from the Federal Open 

Market Committee minutes of the July 31-August 1 meeting, published 

Wednesday:

     "Participants discussed the economic forces and risks they saw as 

providing the rationale for gradual increases in the federal funds rate 

as well as scenarios that might cause them to depart from this expected 

path. Among other factors, they pointed to uncertainty about the 

appropriate level of the federal funds rate over the longer run and to 

constraints on the provision of monetary accommodation during ELB 

episodes as reasons for proceeding gradually in the removal of 

accommodation. Some participants noted that stronger underlying 

momentum in the economy was an upside risk; most expressed the view 

that an escalation in international trade disputes was a potentially 

consequential downside risk for real activity. Some participants 

suggested that, in the event of a major escalation in trade disputes, 

the complex nature of trade issues, including the entire range of their 

effects on output and inflation, presented a challenge in determining 

the appropriate monetary policy response." 

     ** MNI Washington Bureau: (202)371-2121 ** 

[TOPICS: MMUFE$,M$U$$$,MT$$$$]