FOMC begins policy-setting meeting today; rate hike expected

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy-setting arm, begins a two-day meeting today, which is widely expected to end with a quarter-point rate increase.

The federal funds target rate was last increased by a quarter-point to a range of 1.25 to 1.5 percent during the FOMC’s December meeting.

Following the committee’s meeting in January, members pointed to “accommodative financial conditions, the recently enacted tax legislation, and an improved global economic outlook” as factors likely to support continued economic growth. Minutes from the meeting noted that FOMC members expect inflation to continue to rise as “resource utilization tightened further and as wage pressures became more apparent.”

Also during the December meeting, the committee revised its projections to three quarter-point rate hikes in 2018 and two or three in 2019.

 

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