I look forward to hearing your views on these issues as well as any additional suggestions you believe to be worthy of consideration. Each of the agencies will be using the information gathered at this outreach meeting and our other outreach efforts to support the review process, so we can reduce burden where possible, particularly for community banks.
A timely rise in interest rates will avoid the need for a larger increase in interest rates later and, hence, will contribute to stronger growth over an extended period of time. Concerning the size of an increase in interest rates, against the background of a fundamentally changed situation, the precautionary interest rate reduction made in April 1999 is no longer justified.