FOMC Minutes

Meeting of Federal Open Market Committee November 26, 1968 MINUTES OF ACTIONS A meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was held in the offices of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in Washington, D. C., on Tuesday, November 26, 1968, at 9:30 a.m. PRESENT: Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Mr. Martin, Chairman Hayes, Vice Chairman Brimmer Daane Galusha Hickman Kimbrel Maisel Mitchell Morris Robertson Sherrill Messrs. Bopp, Clay, Coldwell, Scanlon, and Treiber, Alternate Members of the Federal Open Market Committee Messrs. Heflin, Francis, and Swan, Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond, St. Louis, and San Francisco, respectively Mr. Holland, Secretary Mr. Sherman, Assistant Secretary Mr. Broida, Assistant Secretary Mr. Hackley, General Counsel Mr. Brill, Economist Messrs. Axilrod, Hersey, Kareken, Mann, Partee, Reynolds, Solomon, and Taylor, Associate Economists Mr. Holmes, Manager, System Open Market Account Mr. Coombs, Special Manager, System Open Market Account -2 11/26/68 Mr. Cardon, Assistant to the Board of Governors Mr. O'Connell, Deputy General Counsel, Board of Governors Mr. Nichols, Special Assistant to the Board of Governors Mr. Wernick, Associate Adviser, Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors Mr. Keir, Assistant Adviser, Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors Mr. Bernard, Special Assistant, Office of the Secretary, Board of Governors Miss Eaton, Open Market Secretariat Assistant, Office of the Secretary, Board of Governor. Messrs. Eisenmenger, Eastburn, Parthemos, Baughman, Jones, Tow, Green, and Craven, Vice Presidents of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, Philadelphia, Richmond, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco, respectively Mr. Garvy, Economic Adviser, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Mr. Geng, Assistant Vice President, Federal Reserve.Bank of New York By unanimous vote, the minutes of actions taken at the meet ing of the Federal Open Market Committee held on October 29, 1968, were approved. The memorandum of discussion for the meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee held on October 29, 1968, was accepted. By unanimous vote, the Committee ratified the actions of members on November 22, 1968, (1) approving an increase from $700 million to $1 billion in the Federal Reserve reciprocal currency arrangement with Bank of France, and the conforming amendment to paragraph 2 of the authorization for System foreign currency 11/26/68 operations, effective November 22, 1968; and (2) approving renewal of the French swap arrangement for a period of one year when it matured on December 27, 1968. By unanimous vote, the System open market transactions in foreign currencies during the period October 29 through November 25, 1968, were approved, ratified, and confirmed. By unanimous vote, the open market transactions in Govern ment securities, agency obligations, and bankers' acceptances during the period October 29 through November 25, 1968, were approved, ratified,and confirmed. With Messrs. Hayes, Hickman, Kimbrel, and Morris dissenting, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York was authorized and directed, until otherwise directed by the Committee, to execute transactions in the System Account in accordance with the following current economic policy directive: The information reviewed at this meeting suggests that the expansion in over-all economic activity, while still strong, is moderating somewhat further from its very rapid pace earlier in the year. Upward pressures on prices and costs are persisting. Most market interest rates have risen further in recent weeks. Bank credit has continued to expand rapidly. Growth in the money supply has accelerated from the low average rate of recent months, while expansion in commercial bank time and savings deposits has slowed. Savings inflows to thrift institutions increased somewhat further in Octo ber but remained moderate. Following discussions among leading industrial countries, France, Germany, and Britain have acted to combat the recent speculation in their currencies by taking steps designed to reduce imbalances in their external payments. The U.S. foreign 11/26/68 trade balance and over-all balance of payments improved in the third quarter but partial data for recent weeks suggest that the improvement is not being sustained, and the underlying U.S. payments position remains a serious problem. In this situation, it is the policy of the Federal Open Market Committee to foster financial condi tions conducive to sustainable economic growth, continued resistance to inflationary pressures, and attainment of reasonable equilibrium in the country's balance of payments. To implement this policy, System open market opera tions until the next meeting of the Committee shall be conducted with a view to maintaining about the prevailing conditions in money and short-term credit markets; provided, however, that operations shall be modified if bank credit expansion appears to be exceeding current projections. It was agreed the next meeting of the Committee would be held on Tuesday, December 17, 1968, at 9:30 a.m. The meeting adjourned. Secretary

Federal Reserve (1968, November 25). FOMC Minutes. Fomc Minutes, Federal Reserve. https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/fomc_minutes_19681126

@misc{wtfs_fomc_minutes_19681126,
  author = {Federal Reserve},
  title = {FOMC Minutes},
  year = {1968},
  month = {Nov},
  howpublished = {Fomc Minutes, Federal Reserve},
  url = {https://whenthefedspeaks.com/doc/fomc_minutes_19681126},
  note = {Retrieved via When the Fed Speaks corpus}
}