The Fed made the expected market decision to raise the rate to 1-1.25 percent. Almost all members of the Open Market Operations Committee believe that there will be another rate increase by the end of 2017.
The meeting also reviewed the forecast for the growth rate of the U.S. economy. The Fed now expects the US GDP to grow by 2.2 percent this year. According to the earlier forecast, growth of 2.1 percent was expected. The unemployment forecast was reduced from 4.5 to 4.3 percent. Also, the forecast for the growth rate of consumer prices was changed. The Federal Reserve assumes that inflation will amount to 1.6 percent in 2017. In the near future, it will reach its target value of 2 percent.
FRS intends to start reducing assets on the balance sheet in the coming months. They’re worth $4 trillion and $500 billion.
The press has been informed that Donald Trump has started looking for a candidate to head Fedrereserve. The term of office of the current head of the Central Bank, Janet Yellen, will expire in six months. Experts admit that Gary Cohn, who is the head of the National Economic Council, can take up a high position. In the past, he was one of the senior executives of Goldman Sachs.for over 20 years.