Fed sees no 2019 hikes, plans September end to asset drawdown
Policy makers lowered economic-growth projections for this year and next, giving a 2.1% median estimate for 2019.
The Federal Reserve
Federal Reserve officials scaled back their projected interest-rate increases this year to zero and said they would end the drawdown of the central bank’s bond holdings in September after holding policy steady on Wednesday.
The median rate projection of Fed officials compared with two hikes in the December forecasts, which spooked investors at the time. In its statement following a two-day meeting in Washington, the Federal Open Market Committee repeated January language that it will be “patient” amid “global economic and financial developments and muted inflation pressures.”
The Fed’s signal that it will keep interest rates on hold for the full year reflects concerns that economic growth is slowing, lower energy prices are weighing on inflation and risks from abroad are dimming the outlook. The projections go further than the one-hike forecast analysts had expected in a Bloomberg survey.
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