Earlier items on the Federal Open Market Committee are here:
- FOMC statement highlights: Rates left unchanged, no change to QE, mild upgrade on economy
- Powell: A transitory rise above 2% inflation this year wouldn't meet standard of moderate overshoot
- Powell Q&A: It's unlikely we would see a persistent rise in inflation with significant slack in labor market
- The full FOMC statement from the April 2021 meeting
And the wrap up is here:
Responses continue to flow in, this via Westpac, brief summary comments:
- The FOMC left its policy settings unchanged, and repeated its key guidance messages, as was widely expected.
- The statement was a little more upbeat, noting "progress on vaccinations and strong policy support" are helping strengthen economic indicators, including employment. The rise in inflation was acknowledged, but seen as transitory.
- The Fed reiterated :"the path of the economy will depend significantly on the course of the virus, including progress on vaccinations." QE purchases will remain at at least $120bn per month "until substantial further progress has been made toward" the maximum employment and price stability goals. In Q&A, he said it's not yet time to start talking about tapering asset purchases.
