Powell Says No Decision Made on Taper

Q: Taper timing? Are we not going to see anything until the fall?

• A: If I said we're looking at a couple more months of data, I'm not suggesting anything about a particular time in which we might taper. We really have not made that decision. All I'm saying is, we're not at "substantial further progress".
• There's a range of views on what timing will be appropriate. Those views ultimately relate to participants' views about the economy and what will happen as we make progress towards our goals.
• We're going to continue to try to provide clarity, as appropriate, on time and pace and composition. Today I've given you what I can give you, because this was the first - I would say "deep dive" - on the issues of time and pace and composition and it was a good meeting. No decisions were made.
• I'm just not in a position to give you much guidance on the actual timing. But I will say, we're making progress. We expect further progress. And we expect that if things go well, then we will reach that goal. When we reach it, and the committee is comfortable that we have reached it, then we'll taper at that point.