Federal Reserve signalled an eventual shift from the easy monetary policy implemented during the pandemic as robust economic recovery and mounting inflation becomes apparent.

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In the minutes of the central bank's April policy meet, some officials said it might be appropriate at some point in the future meetings to start discussing a plan to ease up Fed's massive bond-buying program. However, the current economic policy will remain in place until the US economy shows signs of well-founded and sustainable progress.

"A number of participants suggested that if the economy continued to make rapid progress toward the Committee’s goals, it might be appropriate at some point in upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases,” the meeting summary said, reported CNBC.

The Federal Reserve is currently purchasing bonds worth $120 billion each month and its balance sheet stands at nearly $7.9 trillion.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said that economic recovery in the nation is "uneven and far from complete."

He also added that the economy was still not showing the "substantial further progress" on benchmarks that the committee expected like nearly full employment and an inflation rate of slightly higher than 2 percent, the report added.

The meeting was held before the Bureau of Labor Statistics had released its job report for the month, which saw only 266,000 nonfarm jobs being added against an expected million.

The officials also maintained during the meeting that the inflation rate was only transitory and that the interest rates would be increased only after economic goals have been achieved.

"After the transitory effects of these factors fade, participants generally expected measured inflation to ease,” the minutes said.

Following the release of the minutes, stocks briefly added to losses, but bond yields remained higher on the session.

First Published:May 20, 2021 3:43 PM IST