The Fed: Coming up: Minutes of Fed’s December meeting

This post was originally published on this site

The Federal Reserve will release an edited summary of the closed-door discussion on Dec. 15-16 among the 18 senior central bank official and their staff.

At the meeting, the Fed pivoted in a relatively hawkish direction, signaling that it could raise its benchmark interest rate three times this year. To prepare for rate hikes, the central bankers enacted a revised plan to taper asset purchases so they will end completely in March instead of June.

Economists said they will read the minutes for clues on what would trigger the first rate hike. Also of interest will be any discussion surrounding when the Fed might start to shrink its $8.76 trillion balance sheet. In the last cycle in 2015, the Fed waited two years after its first rate hike before shrinking its balance sheet.

The minutes will be released at 2 p.m. Eastern.

Add Comment