bluebooks · October 4, 1999
Bluebook
Prefatory Note
The attached document represents the most complete and accurate version
available based on original copies culled from the files of the FOMC Secretariat at the
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. This electronic document was
created through a comprehensive digitization process which included identifying the bestpreserved paper copies, scanning those copies, 1 and then making the scanned versions
text-searchable. 2 Though a stringent quality assurance process was employed, some
imperfections may remain.
Please note that this document may contain occasional gaps in the text. These
gaps are the result of a redaction process that removed information obtained on a
confidential basis. All redacted passages are exempt from disclosure under applicable
provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.
1
In some cases, original copies needed to be photocopied before being scanned into electronic format. All
scanned images were deskewed (to remove the effects of printer- and scanner-introduced tilting) and lightly
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2
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STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL (FR)
CLASS II FOMC
MONETARY POLICY ALTERNATIVES
PREPARED FOR THE FEDERAL OPEN MARKET COMMITTEE
BY THE STAFF OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Strictly Confidential (F.R.)
October 1, 1999
Class I -- FOMC
MONETARY POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Recent Developments
(1)
The 1/4 percentage point firming in the stance of policy at the August
meeting, along with the retention of a symmetric directive, was widely anticipated in
financial markets and had little impact on near-term expectations.' The reference in the
announcement to markedly diminished inflation risks, however, led market participants to
revise down slightly their anticipations of additional policy actions next year. In the weeks
that followed, the effects on market participants' policy expectations of surprisingly strong
indicators of spending at home and abroad and of rising commodity prices were only partly
offset by favorable readings on broad price indexes and declines in equity prices.2 On net
over the intermeeting period, money market futures rates through next year showed mixed
changes. Judging by the configuration of these rates, market participants appear to be
placing relatively low odds on a firming of monetary policy over the balance of 1999 and
seem to have at least a 1/2 percentage point tightening built in next year (chart). Rates on
Treasury notes and bonds rose 5 to 20 basis points over the intermeeting period.
1 The federal funds rate averaged close to the intended 5-1/4 percent level over the
intermeeting period.
Gold prices rose 21 percent over the intermeeting period, mostly resulting from the
announcement by the ECB and European national central banks that their reserve sales and
leasing operations would be capped for the next five years. While Treasury prices did seem
to respond to sharp swings on gold prices on certain days, market participants, in the main,
apparently looked through these gyrations as relative price changes that did not materially
reflect inflation expectations. The nearly $3 rise in oil prices since the August meeting,
however, seemed to be one factor contributing to concerns about inflation tendencies.
2
Chart 1
Selected Short-Term Interest Rates
Selected Long-Term Interest Rates
Percent
Daily
Aug. 24
FOMC
Three-month Treasury Bill
......... Three-month AA
Commercial Paper
-
Weekly Friday
-----..
. BBB Corporate
Thirty-year Treasury
---Thirty-year
Fixed Mortgage
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
Aug Oct
1998
I
I
I
Dec
I
Feb
I
I
Apr
I
I
Jun
1999
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
S----
P'''y
I
I
I
I
'.
Aug
Jul
C
Sep Nov
1998
Jan
Mar
May Jul
1999
Source. Merrill Lynch
Federal Funds Futures
I
Aug. 24
FC)MCI
,
A,
- .:^ ^.i^-^ ^
-.r.-1 5.5
Jun
F'ercent
Eurodollar Futures
Percent
8/23/1999
I
Sep
Percent
8/23/1999
10/01/1999
10/01/1999
**
10/1999
12/1999
2/2000
12/1999
6/2000
Contract Months
12/2000
Contract Months
Bond Yield Spreads*
Selected Stock Indexes
lndex(7/1/98)= 100
Basis points
160 800
Aug. 24
Basis points
Aug. 24
750
140 700
700
120
FOMC
650
600
100 550
500
80
450
400
Jun
Aug
Oct
1998
Dec
Feb
Apr
Jun
1999
Aug
Oct
Jun
Aug
Oct
1998
Dec
Feb
Apr
Jun
1999
Aug
"High yield spread is relative to the seven-year Treasury yield.
BBB corporate spread is relative to the ten-year Treasury yield.
Oct
-2(2)
Although most recent information on corporate profits has been positive,
investors appear to have become more cautious in assessing the outlook for business
finances. Over the intermeeting period, yield spreads on investment-grade corporate bonds
on average remained at their elevated late-August levels, even though recent issuance was
less than anticipated, and spreads on higher-yield debt widened significantly further. At
banks, spreads on business loans have remained at the higher levels reached in the spring, or
by some measures even widened further. In addition, most broad measures of equity prices
fell substantially over the intermeeting period. Concerns that shares might be overvalued
seemed to be heightened by doubts about whether the willingness of global investors to
accumulate dollar assets, including U.S. equities, would keep pace with the mounting current
account deficit, especially in light of the improving economic prospects abroad.
(3)
However, some yield spreads that had widened in July and August have
narrowed over the period, retracing a portion of their runup since early June (chart). Swap
spreads and spreads on a number of other instruments, including asset-backed securities and
agencies, moved down when an anticipated heavy volume of debt issuance did not
materialize and when investors and dealers apparently became more willing to take
positions, increasing market liquidity. Reportedly, borrowers still plan to minimize security
issuance around year-end, but are now less bent on wrapping up financing many weeks or
months in advance. The more relaxed approach may owe to diminished uncertainty about
future interest rate movements in the wake of both the August 24 policy announcement and
the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's announcement on September 8 that the FOMC
Chart 2
Ten-year Swap Spread and Eurodollar Implied Volatility
Percent
Basis points
120
Aug. 24
FOMC
110
S-
Daily
...-..... Volatility (left scale)
Swap Spread (right scale)
Spread of Six-month Eurodollar Deposit Rate
Over Six-month Treasury Yield
Basis points
100
90
S80
'
70
'-
60
I
Jun
Aug
I
I
Oct
1998
I
I
Dec
I
I
Feb
I
I
Apr
I
I
Jun
1999
I
I
Aug
I
Oct
One-month LIBOR Futures Butterfly Spread
Basis points
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Maturities of Outstanding Commercial Paper,
As of September 29
Billions of Dollars
[Weekly
..........
Jun
Oct
Jul
Aug
Sep
1999
Note. December futures rate less average of November and January
futures rates (based on mid-month to mid-month deposit rates).
Nominal Trade-Weighted Dollar
Exchange Rates
Index (7/1/98 = 100)
Nov
1999
Dec
Jan
Date of Maturity
Feb
2000
Average Stripped Brady Bond Spread*
1999
1998
Mar
Basis points
1800
Daily
SBroad Index
.............
Major Currencies Index
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
Jun
Aug
Oct
1998
Dec
Feb
Apr
Jun
1999
Aug
Oct
Jun
Aug
Oct
Dec
Feb
Apr
Jun
Aug
Oct
1998
1999
"J.P. Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index, an average of stripped Brady
bond yield spreads over Treasuries for ten emerging market countries.
-3had approved several actions intended to promote the smooth functioning of money
markets around year-end.3 Butterfly interest-rate spreads on one-month bank deposits
spanning the year-end narrowed immediately following the Reserve Bank's announcement
but subsequently reversed those declines, and are now higher than they were at the time of
the August meeting. The step-up in rates on three-month Eurodollar deposits as their
maturities extended into the new year implies, if the year-end pressures are assumed to be
concentrated in just the three-day rollover weekend, that borrowers in this market are now
paying about an 18 percentage point premium over a 5-1/4 percent federal funds rate
around the century date change.
(4)
Since the August 24 FOMC meeting, the foreign exchange value of the dollar
has declined 1 percent on balance against a broad index of currencies, depreciating 2-3/4
percent against the major currencies, but appreciating 1 percent against those of other
important trading partners. Incoming data on spending and production in industrial
economies generally ran to the strong side of market expectations. The growing conviction
that economic recovery has gained a foothold in Japan put upward pressure on the yen,
3 The actions included a temporary expansion of collateral accepted by the Desk in
repurchase transactions, a permanent extension of the maximum maturity of repurchase
transactions entered into by the Desk to 90 from 60 days, and a temporary Standby
Financing Facility under which the Desk would auction options on repurchase transactions.
In addition to the Desk's announcement, year-end concerns likely have been allayed by
numerous statements by government and private officials conveying optimism about the
readiness of the financial and other key sectors of the economy.
Another System initiative to deal with potential Y2K problems, the Special Liquidity
Facility, which the Board approved and announced on July 20, came into effect on
October 1.
-4which Japanese authorities tried to stem with two rounds of intervention in September. The
actions, aggregating to $9.4 billion, seemed to have little lasting effect on the tide of a rising
value of the yen. Concerns about the longer-term consequences of a strong yen on the
economy eventually came to weigh on Japanese equity prices and intensified pressures on
the Bank of Japan to take unusual easing measures, such as not sterilizing foreign exchange
intervention or adopting a quantitative goal for reserve growth. To date, the Bank of Japan
has not changed operations, but long-term rates fell in Japan as market participants seemed
to push expectations of eventual policy tightening further into the future. Nonetheless, the
dollar's value fell 6 percent against the yen. In Europe, signs of stronger growth in spending
prompted talk of policy tightening by the European Central Bank and was associated with
increases in bond yields of around 40 basis points over the intermeeting period. On net, the
dollar depreciated 1-1/2 percent against the euro. Catching market participants unawares,
the Bank of England tightened policy, hiking its repurchase rate 1/4 percentage point, to 51/4 percent, citing, among other factors, concerns about the implications of rising property
prices; over the intermeeting period, longer-term U.K. interest rates rose about 60 basis
points, share prices lost 9 percent, and the pound appreciated 3 percent against the dollar.
There was no intervention by U.S. monetary authorities over the intermeeting period
(5)
M2 expanded at a 5-1/2 percent rate in August and appears to be growing at
about that same pace in September, faster in both months than anticipated at the time of the
August FOMC. The additional expansion likely reflects stronger-than-expected income
-5growth and, as suggested by smaller inflows into equity mutual funds, a less attractive equity
market. Currency growth remained around the rapid pace seen earlier in the year, perhaps
reflecting in part continuing robust gains in consumer spending but also possibly some
hoarding in anticipation of Y2K. 4 M3 in August grew at only a 5 percent rate despite a
surge in bank credit growth that month, but is estimated to have advanced at a 6-1/4
percent pace in September. Banks had shifted their funding toward nonmonetary liabilities
in August, but in September returned to strong large time deposit issuance.
(6)
The growth of nonfinancial debt continued to run at around a 6 percent rate
in recent months. In the corporate sector, debt growth remained robust, although down
from earlier in the year. Less attractive conditions in capital markets, especially for lowerrated issuers, encouraged borrowers to shift toward banks. The high level of interest rates
compared with earlier in the year has halted advance refunding by tax-exempt issuers and
cash-out residential mortgage refinancing by households. Households continued to borrow
heavily, however, to finance strong home purchases and sizable increases in consumer
durables. Federal debt appears to have contracted again in the third quarter; the Treasury is
only just beginning the added borrowing it will need to carry through on its announced
intentions to build its cash balance to an unusually high level at the end of the year for Y2K
contingencies.
4 Depository institutions appear to be taking precautionary steps to be able to meet
potential currency demands. Vault cash is estimated to have increased by nearly $4 billion
this September compared to an increase of less than $1 billion in September 1998.
MONEY, CREDIT, AND RESERVE AGGREGATES
(Seasonally adjusted annual percentage rates of growth)
1998:Q4
to
Jul.
Aug.
Sep.
Money and Credit Aggregates
-9.5
-5.6
M1
Adjusted for sweeps
M2
M3
Domestic nonfinancial debt
Federal
Nonfederal
Bank credit
Adjusted1
Reserve Measures
Nonborrowed reserves
-29.6
1.6
Total reserves
Adjusted for sweeps
-24.9
-4.0
2.6
10.2
Monetary base
Adjusted for sweeps
7.0
7.8
Memo: (millions of dollars)
Adjustment plus seasonal borrowing
Excess reserves
1076
344
316
1128
1099
NOTE: Monthly reserve measures, including excess reserves and borrowing, are calculated by prorating averages for two-week reserve maintenance periods that overlap
months. Reserve data incorporate adjustments for discontinuities associated with
changes in reserve requirements.
1. Adjusted to remove the effects of mark-to-market accounting rules (FIN 39 and
FASB 115).
2. For nonfinancial debt and its components, 1998:Q4 to August.
Sep. 2
-7Policy Alternatives
(6)
Stronger-than-expected incoming data on spending, together with a weaker
path for the exchange value of the dollar than projected in the August Greenbook, have
induced the staff to raise its projection of economic activity going forward. The
unemployment rate is expected to decline to 4 percent by next year, a little lower than in the
last Greenbook. In light of tighter labor markets and heightened inflation pressures, the
staff now assumes that the FOMC will raise the federal funds rate 1/2 percentage point to
5-3/4 percent by the end of next year, 1/4 percentage point higher than in the previous staff
forecast. Against this policy background, long-term interest rates are expected to hold
around their current levels before drifting higher beginning late next year, while stock prices
move sideways throughout. In the Greenbook baseline projection, these financial
conditions combine to damp the expansion of domestic final demand enough to slow
economic growth to a little below that of its potential in 2000 and 2001. Even with the
unemployment rate drifting up slightly by the end of 2001, the still taut labor market,
together with rising non-oil import prices, generates a noticeable pickup in core CPI
inflation, to 2-3/4 percent next year and 3 percent in 2001.
(7)
While the Committee is likely to view an inflation outcome like that in the
staff forecast as unacceptable, it still may choose to keep the stance of policy unchanged, as
in alternative B. The staff outlook for inflation may strike the Committee as plausible but
surrounded by an unusually large element of uncertainty, which may be reduced by the
accumulation of additional evidence with the passage of time. On the demand side of the
-8economy, the changes in financial conditions this year have been substantial and have not
yet had much time to work themselves through to spending. On the supply side, the risks
may be considered to be tilted toward lower inflation than in the staff forecast: Fourquarter increases in core inflation, productivity, and unit labor costs have remained
favorable to date, highlighting the possibility that a further strengthening of the secular
growth in labor productivity may continue to repress inflationary pressures for some time
longer. In addition, the Committee may judge that faster productivity growth actually has
represented a more significant influence damping inflation relative to various one-time
factors, such as falling oil or non-oil import prices, than the staff has estimated. If so, the
reversal of those factors that is now in train might put less upward pressure on broad price
movements than in the staff forecast. Moreover, recent declines in stock prices and rising
risk spreads on some corporate bonds seem to have reflected a heightened investor
edginess; in these circumstances, the Committee may be more inclined to keep policy on
hold so as not to add to market unease through an unexpected policy tightening.
(8)
An unchanged intended federal funds rate, as under alternative B, along with
retention of a symmetric directive, would foster the sense that the Committee probably will
not act over the remainder of this year, especially given Y2K-related uncertainties.5 With
market prices now incorporating some odds on a tightening in the fourth quarter, this
5 Under the Committee's current disclosure policy, the combination of no policy
action and the retention of a symmetric directive would not be accompanied by an explicit
announcement. Even so, the markets would immediately infer from the absence of an
announcement that the Committee had adopted a directive that called for no change in
policy and no tilt looking forward.
-9Committee decision could spark a modest rally in financial markets. The choice of
alternative B with a tilt toward tightening, which would be announced immediately, would
tend to increase the perceived chances of a near-term firming, causing interest rates to back
up slightly and markets to become more sensitive to incoming data and to statements by
policymakers. In any event, banks and other lenders are likely to remain cautious suppliers
of funds to private borrowers as the year-end approaches, especially short-term credit whose
repayment could be viewed as potentially impaired for a little while by disruptions in
markets or the particular problems of individual counterparties. Year-end premiums in
money markets typically jump early in the fourth quarter, but in some years they have
declined subsequently as borrowers satisfied their needs. Spread movements, of course, are
subject to greater uncertainty with the century date change. This year borrowers seem to be
securing financing somewhat earlier than the norm, which may help to relieve some
pressures, though not by enough to prevent spreads from remaining quite elevated.
(9)
The Committee instead could favor a 1/4 percentage point firming in the
intended federal funds rate to 5-1/2 percent, as in alternative C. A rationale for this policy
tightening would be that the inflation uptrend embodied in the staff forecast is both likely
and unacceptable and warrants a faster and more aggressive policy response than is assumed
in that forecast. Indeed, the persistent strength of domestic final demand in the face of
elevated long-term rates and flat stock prices since the spring, the currently low inventorysales ratios, and the strengthening of activity abroad might be seen as pointing to risks that
are skewed toward an unemployment rate appreciably below 4 percent in the near future
-10and a greater intensification of inflation pressures. Although the markets are not fully
prepared for such an action and an outsized price reaction cannot be ruled out, the
Committee might be willing to accept even a sharp reduction in bond and stock prices as an
aspect of the process of containing inflation. The Committee might see action at this
meeting as especially desirable if it views potential financial disruptions as increasingly
militating against tightening policy between now and early next year and if it also sees that
interval as a period of time when firmer policy is going to be needed to prevent inflation
pressures from cumulating.
(10)
The 1/4 percentage point hike in the target federal funds rate at this FOMC
meeting would be enough of a surprise to financial markets to induce an appreciable
reaction. The ratcheting up of short-term interest rates would approach the magnitude of
the policy move. An immediate selloff in bond and stock markets can be anticipated as
market participants revise up their expected federal funds rates next year and beyond,
reflecting a strengthening of their assessments of the Federal Reserve's anti-inflation resolve,
as well as of impending inflation pressures in light of the Federal Reserve's evident concern.
The resultant increases in interest rates could strengthen the exchange value of the dollar,
although any worsening of the markets' outlook for U.S. inflation and declines in our stock
prices would mute that effect. The largely unexpected policy tightening might widen credit
and liquidity spreads in financial markets. The extent of all these market reactions would of
course depend on the Committee's choice of the direction of the tilt and of the content of
the immediate announcement of the change of policy stance.
-11(11)
The expansion of the debt of domestic nonfinancial sectors through the end
of this year is expected to run at around a 5 percent rate, somewhat below the growth of
nominal spending. Nonetheless, for the year, growth of this aggregate would be 6-1/4
percent, in the upper half of its 3 to 7 percent annual range. Among nonfederal sectors,
only business borrowing is likely to be much affected in the months around year-end by
Y2K-related distortions. In reaction to somewhat illiquid market conditions and efforts to
complete financing plans early, issuance of corporate bonds and commercial paper and the
overall pace of business borrowing should slow over the fourth quarter. Early next year, the
rebound in business borrowing should be held down by a projected runoffin precautionary
inventories. Household borrowing likely will remain robust over the next two quarters
owing to still-strong housing activity and solid advances in spending on consumer durable
goods. However, debt repayment by the federal government will accelerate in the first
quarter as the enlarged cash balance drops back, limiting the overall expansion of the debt
of nonfinancial sectors to only around 4-1/2 percent over the first three months of the year.
(12)
The staff anticipates that both broad monetary aggregates will grow 6-1/2
percent this year, which would place M2 and M3 above the upper bounds of their annual
ranges of 5 percent and 6 percent, respectively. This growth would imply a fall in velocity
of about 1-1/4 percent. Both aggregates are likely to accelerate to a 9 percent rate of growth
from September to December, with nearly a third of this growth reflecting projected Y2K
effects. These effects occur as the public shifts some of its wealth from outside the broad
aggregates into highly liquid forms, including currency, deposits, and money funds, and as
-12banks finance a bulge in lending. After the turn of the year, the advance of the broad
aggregates is predicted to be depressed for a few months as these temporary effects are
reversed.
-13Directive Language
(13)
Presented below for the members' consideration is the operational paragraph
for the intermeeting period.
OPERATIONAL PARAGRAPH
To promote the Committee's long-run objectives of price stability and
sustainable economic growth, the Committee in the immediate future seeks conditions in
reserve markets consistent with MAINTAINING/increasing/DECREASING the federal
funds rate to an average of around
____ [DEL:
percent.
5-1/4]
In view of the evidence currently
available, the Committee believes that prospective developments are equally likely to warrant
an increase or a decrease [MORE LIKELY TO WARRANT AN INCREASE/A
DECREASE THAN A DECREASE /AN INCREASE] in the federal funds rate operating
objective during the intermeeting period.
Alternative Growth Rates for Key Monetary and Credit Aggregates
M2
Alt. B
Monthly Growth Rates
1999 Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
2000 Jan
Feb
Mar
M3
Alt. C
Alt. B
Debt
Alt. C
All Alternatives
5.4
5.5
5.6
6.7
8.2
12.3
4.0
3.0
5.1
5.4
5.5
5.6
6.4
7.5
11.5
3.3
2.5
4.7
4.8
4.9
6.2
6.5
8.0
12.0
4.8
4.9
5.0
4.8
4.9
6.2
6.4
7.6
11.6
4.5
4.7
4.8
5.7
6.8
5.7
4.2
5.3
4.9
3.9
4.1
4.9
Quarterly Averages
1999 Q1
1999 Q2
1999 Q3
1999 Q4
2000 Q1
7.2
5.6
5.1
7.3
6.2
7.2
5.6
5.1
7.0
5.6
7.6
5.4
5.2
7.3
6.8
7.6
5.4
5.2
7.1
6.5
6.5
6.8
5.9
5.2
4.5
Growth Rate
From
Sep-99
Dec-99
Sep-99
To
Dec-99
Mar-2000
Mar-2000
9.1
4.0
6.6
8.5
3.5
6.0
8.9
4.9
7.0
8.6
4.7
6.7
4.8
4.3
4.6
1998 Q4
Sep-99
6.0
6.0
6.1
6.1
6.5
1997 Q4
1998 Q4
1998 Q4
1998 Q4
1999 Q3
1999 Q4
8.5
6.1
6.5
8.5
6.1
6.4
10.9
6.1
6.5
10.9
6.1
6.5
6.7
6.5
6.2
1999 Q4
Mar-2000
5.8
5.2
6.4
6.1
4.5
1999 Annual Ranges:
1.0 to 5.0
2.0 to 6.0
3.0 to 7.0
Chart 3
Actual and Projected M2
Billions of
4900
Actual Level
4800
Short-Run Alternatives
S
4700
4600
4500
-- 1%
4400
4300
Nov
1998
Jan
Mar
May
Jul
1999
Sep
Nov
4200
Jan
2000
Chart 4
Actual and Projected M3
Billions of Dollars
6800
-6700
-
Actual Level
*
Short-Run Alternatives
-6600
"6500
B
6400
6300
6%
6200
6100
2%
6000
5900
5800
Nov
1998
Jan
Mar
May
Jul
1999
Sep
Nov
Jan
2000
Mar
5700
Chart 5
Actual and Projected Debt
18000
17800
-
Actual Level
*
Projected Level
17600
17400
17200
17000
16800
-*3%
16600
16400
16200
16000
15800
Nov
1998
Jan
Mar
May
Jul
1999
Sep
Nov
Jan
2000
Mar
15600
SELECTED INTEREST RATES
(percent)
October 4, 1999
Long-term
,ort-term
bs
se
s
l et
th
i 1-year
ryDs
y Comm.
darket
paper
3-month
1-month
Indexed yields
U.S. government constant
maturity yields
3-year
I 5-year
1-year 3Buyer
5-year
I 10-year i h30-year
Moody's
Baa
10-year
Muni
Conventional home
mortgages
Municipal
Bonuyed primary market
d-e
Fixed-rate
ARM
98 -- High
-- Low
5.87
4.56
5.24
3.84
5.24
3.94
5.23
3.84
5.74
5.13
5.71
4.84
5.70
4.15
5.72
4.17
5.75
4.41
6.05
4.88
3.93
3.44
3.82
3.55
7.42
7.01
5.52
5.09
7.22
6.49
5.71
5.35
99 -- High
-- Low
Monthly
Oct 98
Nov 98
Dec 98
5.32
4.42
4.82
4.20
4.97
4.30
5.00
4.29
5.79
4.86
5.29
4.76
5.87
4.58
5.97
4.56
6.08
4.67
6.19
5.12
3.98
3.61
4.07
3.76
8.27
7.24
5.96
5.17
8.15
6.74
6.24
5.56
5.07
4.83
4.68
3.96
4.41
4.39
4.05
4.42
4.40
3.95
4.33
4.32
5.21
5.24
5.14
5.14
5.00
5.24
4.18
4.57
4.48
4.18
4.54
4.45
4.53
4.83
4.65
5.01
5.25
5.06
3.53
3.75
3.75
3.63
3.77
3.80
7.18
7.34
7.23
5.19
5.27
5.23
6.71
6.87
6.72
5.38
5.53
5.55
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Weekly
Jul
Aug
Aug
Aug
Aug
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Oct
Daily
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Sep
Oct
4.63
4.76
4.81
4.74
4.74
4.76
4.99
5.07
5.22
4.34
4.44
4.44
4.29
4.50
4.57
4.55
4.72
4.68
4.33
4.44
4.47
4.37
4.56
4.82
4.58
4.87
4.88
4.31
4.48
4.53
4.45
4.60
4.82
4.75
4.91
4.96
4.89
4.90
4.91
4.88
4.92
5.13
5.24
5.41
5.50
4.80
4.80
4.82
4.79
4.79
4.95
5.06
5.18
5.28
4.61
4.90
5.11
5.03
5.33
5.70
5.62
5.77
5.75
4.60
4.91
5.14
5.08
5.44
5.81
5.68
5.84
5.80
4.72
5.00
5.23
5.18
5.54
5.90
5.79
5.94
5.92
5.16
5.37
5.58
5.55
5.81
6.04
5.98
6.07
6.07
3.73
3.70
3.84
3.72
3.65
3.78
3.94
3.96
3.89
3.81
3.79
3.90
3.90
3.85
3.94
4.01
4.03
4.05
7.29
7.39
7.53
7.48
7.72
8.02
7.95
8.15
8.20
5.23
5.27
5.31
5.29
5.37
5.53
5.61
5.81
5.92
6.79
6.81
7.04
6.92
7.15
7.55
7.63
7.94
7.82
5.60
5.65
5.77
5.60
5.72
5.91
5.99
6.18
6.20
5.65
5.71
5.84
5.86
5.83
5.89
5.90
5.92
5.93
5.96
7.70
7.89
8.15
7.93
7.80
7.83
7.88
7.82
7.76
7.70
5.99
6.09
6.24
6.18
6.22
6.18
6.21
6.22
6.19
6.12
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
30
6
13
20
27
3
10
17
24
1
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
5.02
5.02
4.99
5.00
5.11
5.31
5.17
5.23
5.18
5.32
4.59
4.65
4.72
4.65
4.81
4.82
4.67
4.61
4.65
4.71
4.61
4.78
4.90
4.88
4.89
4.97
4.93
4.89
4.85
4.79
4.80
4.85
4.94
4.91
4.91
5.00
4.99
4.97
4.95
4.94
5.27
5.35
5.41
5.43
5.42
5.45
5.45
5.45
5.45
5.79
5.07
5.11
5.14
5.18
5.23
5.28
5.28
5.28
5.29
5.29
5.65
5.73
5.87
5.75
5.69
5.80
5.78
5.76
5.71
5.73
5.75
5.86
5.97
5.81
5.71
5.86
5.82
5.80
5.77
5.81
5.86
5.95
6.08
5.91
5.81
5.97
5.94
5.92
5.88
5.92
6.05
6.12
6.19
6.03
5.93
6.08
6.07
6.08
6.06
6.09
3.96
3.98
3.97
3.95
3.93
3.93
3.90
3.87
3.89
3.87
4.02
4.02
4.03
4.02
4.02
4.04
4.04
4.04
4.06
4.07
8.04
8.13
8.27
8.14
8.06
8.21
8.20
8.18
8.19
15
16
17
20
21
22
23
24
27
28
29
30
1
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
99
5.41
5.23
5.11
5.20
5.12
5.21
5.29
5.23
5.35
5.32
5.26
5.51
5.35 p
4.62
4.57
4.54
4.56
4.66
4.69
4.69
4.65
4.68
4.71
4.69
4.74
4.74
4.87
4.84
4.87
4.88
4.86
4.87
4.85
4.80
4.81
4.77
4.78
4.79
4.81
4.97
4.95
4.96
4.99
4.97
4.97
4.94
4.87
4.91
4.91
4.97
4.93
5.00
5.44
5.46
5.45
5.44
5.46
5.46
5.45
5.43
5.44
5.45
6.02
6.02
6.02
5.28
5.30
5.28
5.29
5.29
5.28
5.29
5.29
5.29
5.29
5.29
5.30
--
5.79
5.70
5.74
5.75
5.76
5.74
5.70
5.60
5.67
5.70
5.75
5.70
5.83
5.81
5.77
5.76
5.81
5.83
5.81
5.76
5.65
5.73
5.78
5.86
5.78
5.90
5.94
5.90
5.87
5.91
5.94
5.92
5.87
5.75
5.83
5.89
5.97
5.90
6.00
6.11
6.08
6.05
6.08
6.10
6.10
6.05
5.95
6.02
6.07
6.13
6.06
6.15
3.87
3.86
3.87
3.88
3.89
3.89
3.90
3.87
3.88
3.87
3.87
3.86
3.86
4.04
4.04
4.05
4.06
4.07
4.07
4.07
4.05
4.07
4.08
4.07
4.07
4.06
8.19
8.16
8.15
8.19
8.21
8.20
8.20
8.16
8.21
8.24
8.28
8.20
NOTE: Weekly data for columns 1 through 13 are week-ending averages. As of September 1997, data In column 6 are Interpolated from data on certain commercial paper trades settled by the Depository Trust Company; prior
to that, they reflect an average of offering rates placed by several leading dealers. Column 14 is the Bond Buyer revenue index, which is a 1-day quote for Thursday. Column 15 is the average contract rate on new
commitments for fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) with 80 percent loan-to-value ratios at malor institutional lenders. Column 16 is the average initial contract rate on new commitments for 1-year, adjustable-rate mortgages
(ARMs) at major institutional lenders offering both FRMs and ARMs with the same number of discount points.
p- preliminary data
Strictly Confidential (FR)Class II FOMC
F
Money and Debt Aggregatesass
October 4. 1999
Seasonally adjusted
Seasonally adjusted
o___ stock
_nev measures
Domestic nonfinancial debt
nontransactions components
Period
Annual arowth rates(%):
Annually (Q4 to Q4)
1996
1
2
In M2
In M3 only
3
4
M
M3
government
5
6
t he r
o
other'
ta
to
total'
7
8
4.6
8.6
15.3
6.8
3.8
6.0
5.4
-1.2
5.7
8.5
19.3
8.8
0.8
6.7
1.8
5.2
8.5
10.9
18.1
10.9
-1.1
9.3
6.7
5.0
2.8
3.5
-2%
11.0
7.2
5.6
5
13.0
8.7
6.3
74
18.4
8.6
4.7
50
12.9
7.6
5.4
54
-2.8
-3.1
-2.3
9.2
9.4
9.5
6.3
6.5
6.8
2.8
6.4
9.6
4.8
12.3
11.6
10.7
10.2
15.6
13.3
11.1
11.9
15.7
16.3
20.6
16.8
13.2
12.8
13.3
11.9
-2.7
-3.8
-2.6
-2.6
8.3
9.5
10.0
8.6
5.7
6.4
7.0
6.0
-2.6
1.8
10.3
7.0
-4.0
-3.9
-1.7
2.9
-9
6.5
5.6
2.7
8.8
4.5
4.2
5.4
5.5
6
9.6
6.8
0.2
9.4
7.3
6.8
7.6
6.3
10
-2.1
20.5
-11.5
7.9
6.1
9.5
3.2
3.3
8
4.2
9.5
-1.1
8.5
4.9
5.6
4.8
4.9
6
-2.6
-6.1
0.1
-1.7
-5.1
0.3
1.5
8.7
10.0
10.8
10.2
8.0
6.8
6.9
6.1
6.3
8.3
7.5
5.1
5.4
5.7
1108.4
1104.7
1101.1
1099.5
1102.2
4488.2
4505.1
4520.8
4541.0
4561.9
3379.8
3400.4
3419.8
3441.5
3459.6
1614.2
1622.4
1635.3
1639.7
1644.2
6102.4
6127.5
6156.1
6180.7
6206.1
3718.6
3702.8
3703.6
3708.1
12912.3
12998.9
13072.8
13148.3
2
9
16
23
30
1109.3
1102.6
1101.3
1106.4
1096.1
4559.5
4551.2
4556.3
4572.9
4568.1
3450.1
3448.6
3455.1
3466.5
3472.0
1631.8
1642.3
1644.5
1642.7
1651.6
6191.3
6193.5
6200.9
6215.6
6219.7
6
13p
20p
1096.9
1093.0
1095.2
4559.3
4570.1
4592.0
3462.3
3477.1
3496.8
1638.2
1657.2
1655.1
6197.5
6227.4
6247.1
1998
Quarterly(average)
1998-Q4
1999-Q1
Q2
Q3 pe
Monthly
1998-Sep.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
1999-Jan.
Feb.
Mar.
Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sep. pe
Levels (Sbillionsli
Monthly
1999-Apr.
May
June
July
Aug.
Sep.
M2
-4.5
1997
Weekly
1999-Aug.
M1
.
1.
Debt data are on a monthly average basis, derived by averaging end-of-month levels of adjacent months, and have been adjusted to remove discontinuities.
p
pe
preliminary
preliminary estimate
16630.9
16701.6
16776.4
16856.4
NET CHANGES IN SYSTEM HOLDINGS OF SECURITES
Millions of dollars, not seasonally adjusted
October 1, 1999
STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL (FR)
CLASS II-FOMC
1
Period
524
5,549
6,297
3,898
20,080
12,901
1,501
1,369
2,024
1,403
2,262
2,993
4,524
3,122
283
495
654
862
1999 --01
--02
3,163
3,978
5,180
8,751
681
2,594
1998 September
October
November
December
1,038
741
662
3,989
725
2,397
1996
1997
1998
1998 --Q1
--- 02
--03
--04
9,901
9,147
3,550
--3,550
---
9,901
--2,000
9,147
1,550
2,000
-2,000
---
3,550
1,769
2,372
4,311
4,571
7,659
7,158
2,251
8,022
7,536
7,093
-12,184
-13,549
-10,034
-9,477
3,019
3,152
11,551
17,749
11,524
17,697
-8,004
-10,271
1,674
698
5,377
2,539
4,619
5,329
2,524
4,599
-30
-9,868
-12,553
-11,659
-6,096
123
5,190
6,238
5,520
10,337
1,893
910
3,223
121
5,190
6,213
5,520
10,337
1,841
900
3,212
-7,799
-10,380
-7,243
-8,603
-10,368
-12,644
-11,355
-10,868
1,013
965
743
615
1999 January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
Weekly
June
2,752
2,428
3,362
4,442
948
2,404
262
2,890
1,272
1,075
948
16
23
30
July 7
14
21
28
August 4
11
18
25
September 1
8
15
22
29
-12,317
---16,247
-9,090
-.
10,473
-10,087
-13,670
-11,338
---11,437
-.
10,603
-9,846
-11,366
---10,163
-.
5,213
-1,812
1,529
..7
-4
951
-41
448
824
Memo: LEVEL (bil. $) 6
September 29
215.7
55.7
121.2
1,075
50.2
64.8
877
2,346
877
2,335
960
960
291.9
L
1. Change from end-of-period to end-of-period.
2. Outright transactions in market and with foreign accounts.
3. Outright transactions in market and with foreign accounts, and short-term notes acquired
in exchange for maturing bills. Excludes maturity shifts and rollovers of maturing issues.
946
-41
-5
507.8
____
4.8
______
4. Reflects net change in redemptions (-) of Tre asury and agency securities.
5. Includes change in RPs (+), matched sale-pu rchase transactions (-), and matched purchase sale transactions (+).
6. The levels of agency issues were as follows:
within
1 year
September 29
0.1
1-5
0.0
5-10
0.1
over 10
0.0
total
0.2
Cite this document
APA
Federal Reserve (1999, October 4). Bluebook. Bluebooks, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/bluebook_19991005
BibTeX
@misc{wtfs_bluebook_19991005,
author = {Federal Reserve},
title = {Bluebook},
year = {1999},
month = {Oct},
howpublished = {Bluebooks, Federal Reserve},
url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/bluebook_19991005},
note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}