Fed officials meet Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time since Chairman Jerome Powell signaled a policy shift last month to tackle inflation
Federal Reserve officials meet Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time since Chairman Jerome Powell said last month that the central bank needed to shift its focus toward preventing higher inflation from becoming entrenched and away from fostering a rapid rebound in hiring from the pandemic.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell discussed in a Senate hearing the factors driving continued inflation and the risk the Omicron variant poses for the economy. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg News, Mr. Powell suggested that the central bank’s statement would stop characterizing higher inflation as “transitory,” in part because the term was confusing. In its place, the Fed could simply describe various forces contributing to higher inflation, some of which officials don’t expect to last.
Fed officials are poised to quicken the wind down of their bond-buying stimulus program this week because they want to conclude it before raising interest rates. They have signaled they are likely to end it by March instead of June, which would allow them to raise rates sooner. The move to accelerate the process would be theOther parts of the Fed’s statement or Mr. Powell’s postmeeting press conference could provide clues on how officials see the prospect for rate increases next year.
Fed officials’ economic projections to be released Wednesday could shed additional light on changes to their policy outlook. In September, they were evenly divided between whether they would likely start lifting interest rates in 2022 or in 2023. The new projections could show most now expect multiple rate rises next year.
The two-part test committed the Fed to waiting longer to raise rates than it would have in the past, which means interest rates could still be stimulating economic growth for a year or two after it starts to raise them. Misjudging the tightness of the labor market and the potential for price pressures to broaden could compound potential problems.
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