The US Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) had voted to lift the Federal Funds Rate (FFR) target range to 0.25-0.50% from 0.00-0.25%, as expected. In the Fed’s updated statement on monetary policy, it signaled that further rate hikes would be appropriate, as expected.
Eight out of nine policy voters supported the move, with the one dissenting vote coming from St Louis Fed President James Bullard who favoured a larger 50bps move to 0.50-0.75%. The Fed said it expects inflation to return to its 2.0% target and for the labour market to remain strong with an appropriate firming of the stance of monetary policy.
