Highlights of the FOMC decision on March 15, 2017
- Prior was 0.50%-0.75%
- Fed refers to target as 'symmetric'
- Kashkari dissented in favor of not hiking
- Policy to support 'sustained return to 2% inflation'
- Inflation expected to stabilize around 2% in medium term
- Repeats labor market strengthening, job gains solid
- Business investment 'appears to have firmed somewhat'
- Rate hikes to be 'gradual', that's a small change from 'only gradual' previously
- Repeats that near-term risks to outlook 'roughly balanced'
- Excluding food and energy, inflation is 'somewhat below' 2%
Nothing hawkish here. The US dollar getting beaten up.
The shift in the statement is that headline inflation is treated like it's at or very close to target but they still have concerns about core inflation. The line "in light of the recent shortfall of inflation from 2 percent" was removed.
More:
- FOMC Statement from the Federal Reserve Bank for March 2017
- See the comparison of this FOMC statement with the previous one
- FOMC Dot Plot shows 3 hikes in 2017
- US dollar drops as Fed plays it safe after hiking rates
