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Release Date: November 6, 2001

For immediate release
The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds
rate by 50 basis points to 2 percent. In a related action, the Board of Governors approved a
50 basis point reduction in the discount rate to 1-1/2 percent.
Heightened uncertainty and concerns about a deterioration in business conditions both here
and abroad are damping economic activity. For the foreseeable future, then, the Committee
continues to believe that, against the background of its long-run goals of price stability and
sustainable economic growth and of the information currently available, the risks are
weighted mainly toward conditions that may generate economic weakness.
Although the necessary reallocation of resources to enhance security may restrain advances
in productivity for a time, the long-term prospects for productivity growth and the economy
remain favorable and should become evident once the unusual forces restraining demand
abate.
In taking the discount rate action, the Federal Reserve Board approved the request submitted
by the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
2001 Monetary policy
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Last update: November 6, 2001