The US Federal Reserve downgraded its language on the economy yesterday but made no changes to policy after the release of data showing unexpectedly strong annualised economic growth of 1.7 per cent in the second quarter.
Rather than the “moderate” expansion that it reported in June, the Fed said that growth in the first half of the year had been “modest”, a downgrade that may slightly affect the timing of a reduction in its asset purchases from $85bn-a-month.
But the largely unchanged statement suggests the central bank is broadly comfortable with the scenario that it laid out last month and raises the chances of a first reduction in asset purchases in September.