Agence France Presse

The Federal Reserve slashed its 2008 growth forecast for the US economy to a range of 0.3 to 1.2 percent, and signaled further rate cuts are unlikely unless there is a "significant weakening" of the outlook, documents released Wednesday showed.

The US central bank made a sharp downward revision to its prior forecast of 1.3 to 2.0 percent growth for 2008 in an economic update accompanying the minutes from its April 29-30 policy meeting.

At that meeting, the Fed led by chairman Ben Bernanke voted 8-2 to cuts the federal funds base lending rate by a quarter point to 2.0 percent.

But the panel stated that "it was no longer appropriate for the statement to emphasize the downside risks to growth," according to the minutes.

The minutes also said that "several members noted that it was unlikely to be appropriate to ease policy in response to information suggesting that the economy was slowing further or even contracting slightly in the near term, unless economic and financial developments indicated a significant weakening of the economic outlook."