The Federal Reserve's meeting minutes from the monetary policy meeting in November, released on the 26th, show that Fed officials believe that if the economy performs as expected, then gradually lowering interest rates and shifting to a more neutral policy stance may be appropriate. After the monetary policy meeting ended on November 7, the Fed announced a 25 basis point reduction in the target range for the federal funds rate to between 4.5% and 4.75%. The meeting minutes show that Fed officials are unclear about how close the current interest rate level is to the neutral rate level that neither restricts nor stimulates economic growth. Many officials indicated that uncertainty has complicated the Fed's assessment of the restrictiveness of monetary policy, and therefore, "gradually reducing policy restrictions is appropriate." The Federal Reserve will hold its last monetary policy meeting of the year on December 17-18. Data from a Fed tracking report from the cme group currently indicates that the market expects a 63% probability of a 25 basis point rate cut by the Fed in December. (Xinhua News Agency)