MNI TRANSCRIPT: Powell on Economic Bias

     WASHINGTON (MNI) - Q: Taking the statement, your opening remarks, I'm just

wondering what kind of message we should take from this?  Do you still -- is it

safe to say that FOMC still has an easing bias or not?  

     A: So... the idea of having a bias is something that was a long-time

practice and we don't have that practice anymore, so... I can't really adopt it

right here.  Nonetheless, I'll explain your question.  So... we did, we made one

decision today.  And that decision was to lower the federal funds rate by a

quarter percentage point.  We believe that action is appropriate to promote our

objectives, of course.  

   We're going to be highly data-dependent, as always, our decisions will depend

on the implications of incoming information for the outlook and I would also

say, as we often do, that we're not on a preset course. So that's how we're

going to look at it. we're going to carefully look at the economic data,

sometimes the path ahead is, is clear and sometimes less-so, so... we're going

to be looking carefully, meeting by meeting, at the full range of information

and we're going to assess the appropriate stance of policy as we go and as I

said, we, we will act as appropriate to sustain expansion. 

--MNI Washington Bureau; +1 202 371 2121; email: alexandra.kelley@marketnews.com

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