in March, they said the banking crisis heightened that forecast to a recession. Policymakers at the Fed voted unanimously last month for a smaller interest rate increase after turbulence in the banking industry set off fears of bank runs, according to the minutes. The Fed’s latest interest rate increase brought the federal funds rate to a range of 4.75% to 5%, the highest level since September 2007. “Such a tightening in financial conditions would work in the same direction as rate tightening,” Powell said, stressing that the banking industry remained sound. SVB’s collapse was the second-largest bank failure in US history and underpins the worst banking crisis since the Great Recession.

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