The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce that it will start phasing out its $120bn monthly bond-buying programme, as it confronts more pronounced price pressures and predictions that interest rates will be lifted next year.
The US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee will release its latest statement on Wednesday at 2pm Eastern Time, followed by a press conference by chair Jay Powell.
Economists expect the Fed to declare that it has achieved “substantial further progress” towards its goals of inflation that averages at 2 per cent and maximum employment, and that it will begin dialling back the emergency policy settings put in place last year to offset the economic damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.