Federal Reserve releases meeting minutes

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday released minutes from its April 28-29 policy meeting, a session that ended with the central bank holding interest rates steady in a 3.5% to 3.75% range. The publication came at 2 p.m. Eastern, in line with the Fed’s calendar for May 20, 2026. The minutes cover the meeting that produced the Fed’s most divided rate decision since 1992, according to contemporaneous market coverage and the vote breakdown in the April 29 statement. The April 29 statement showed eight officials voting to leave rates unchanged and four dissenting. Stephen I. Miran preferred a quarter-point rate cut, while Beth M. Hammack, Neel Kashkari and Lorie K. Logan supported holding rates steady but opposed including an easing bias in the statement. ### Which meeting do these minutes actually describe? (federalreserve.gov) The May 20 release covers the Federal Open Market Committee’s April 28-29 meeting, not a new rate decision. The Fed says minutes for regularly scheduled meetings are generally published three weeks after the day of the policy decision, and its May 2026 calendar listed “FOMC Minutes Meeting of April 28-29” for release at 2:00 p.m. on May 20. (federalreserve.gov) The Fed’s meeting schedule shows April 28-29 as the third regularly scheduled FOMC meeting of 2026. The next scheduled meeting is June 16-17, with the policy statement due at 2 p.m. Eastern on the second day of the meeting. ### Why were traders focused on this set of minutes? The April 29 decision was unusual because the disagreement was visible in the vote itself. (federalreserve.gov) The statement recorded one dissent in favor of an immediate cut and three dissents against retaining language that signaled potential future easing, even while the committee held rates unchanged. (federalreserve.gov) Reuters reported on April 29 that the split was the most divided Fed decision since 1992. That made the minutes important for investors looking for more detail on how officials weighed elevated inflation, softer job growth and uncertainty tied to higher global energy prices. ### What had the Fed said publicly at the time of the meeting? (federalreserve.gov) Chair Jerome Powell said on April 29 that the FOMC saw the current policy stance as appropriate for making progress toward maximum employment and 2% inflation. He also said inflation had moved up and was elevated, in part reflecting higher global energy prices, and that developments in the Middle East were adding uncertainty to the outlook. (kitco.com) Powell said total PCE prices rose 3.5% in the 12 months through March and core PCE rose 3.2%. He said the higher core reading largely reflected the effects of tariffs on goods prices, while higher oil prices were pushing up overall inflation. ### What exactly was the policy setting going into the minutes release? The April 29 statement kept the federal funds target range at 3.5% to 3.75%. (federalreserve.gov) The accompanying implementation note said the Board of Governors voted unanimously to maintain the interest rate paid on reserve balances at 3.65%, effective April 30. The Fed’s statement also said the committee would “carefully assess” incoming data, the evolving outlook and the balance of risks when considering any additional adjustments to the target range. (federalreserve.gov) That language sat at the center of the split, with Logan, Kashkari and Hammack objecting to retaining an easing bias at that time. ### What comes next after these minutes? (federalreserve.gov) The Federal Reserve’s published schedule shows the next FOMC meeting on June 16-17, 2026. Under the committee’s standard timetable, the policy statement is due at 2 p.m. Eastern on June 17, followed by any subsequent minutes three weeks later. (federalreserve.gov 1) (federalreserve.gov 2)