At the December 1998 meeting, the FOMC decided, going forward, to announce the tilt and explain the reason for such a policy change in those cases where the change in the Committee’s views of the balance of risks was “significant” and when announcing this change to the public was viewed as “important.” This made the announcement of the tilt, in effect, another policy tool because an announced change in the tilt would move market rates, though to a lesser degree than a change in the rate itself.
This decision should be understood as an effort to increase the transparency of monetary policy and to allow the Committee to communicate more clearly its views of the balance of risks and the prospects of further policy actions going forward.