FOMC Minutes Reflect Surprising Amount of Discussion Re More Aggressive Tightening – But No Conclusions
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The latest minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee released Wednesday afternoon surprised the markets with the amount of discussion about potentially more aggressive than expected tightening moves, despite the lack of any conclusions. Not only did “many participants” judge that the appropriate pace of balance sheet runoff would likely be faster […]
Fed’s Waller Urges March Funds Rate Liftoff, Followed by Balance Sheet Shrinking
By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller Friday said the Fed should start raising short-term interest rates “shortly” after it finishes buying bonds in March – perhaps immediately thereafter. What’s more, Waller advocated starting to shrink the Fed’s bloated balance sheet soon after it starts raising the federal funds rate, which […]
BOJ Keeps Easing Stance, Tweaks Covid Funding Scheme Toward Small Firms
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – The Bank of Japan said Friday it is ending parts of its anti-Covid special financing program aimed at supporting large firms, whose financial conditions have improved, while extending its feature of helping hard-hit small businesses, particularly those in the service sector. As expected, the BOJ decided to maintain its interest […]
Analysis: Fed Ponders What Puts Out This Peculiar Inflation Fire
–Overheating or Super Squeezing? By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell Wednesday reassured his press conference viewers the central bank has the tools it needs to make sure aggressive inflation doesn’t last too long, reinforcing the narrative this inflation episode will meet its match. But what if the seeds of deflation […]
FOMC Doubles Taper to End Bond Buying in March as Inflation Forces Hawkish Tilt
—Three 2022 Rate Hikes Now Projected By FOMC Participants –Powell Hints At Quick Start To Funds Rate Liftoff After Taper Ends By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve policymakers moved dramatically, though not unexpectedly, Wednesday to adopt a more aggressive stance against inflation. The FOMC said it anticipates “similar reductions” in subsequent months, although […]
Bank of England Likely to Hold Fire at Dec MPC Meeting
–Omicron Variant Set to Delay Rate Hike Widely Expected Before Year End–Sharp Rise in November Inflation Could Provide Spirited Discussion LONDON (MaceNews) – The Bank of England is likely to keep rates on hold at Wednesday’s final rate-setting meeting of the year, with the U.K. returning to partial Covid restrictions as the Omicrom variant sweeps […]
Analysis: Inflation-Wary FOMC Seems Headed Toward a Quicker Pace of Tapering, Rate Hikes
– Wage-Price Trends Have Dramatically Changed the Fed’s Policy Calculus By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Who would have imagined just a short time ago that the Federal Reserve would not only be accelerating reductions of asset purchases before year’s end, but signaling an intention to raise short-term interest rates sooner and more rapidly than […]
Bank of Canada Keeps Record-Low Rate, Still Sees a Hike in Mid-2022
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – The Bank of Canada on Wednesday left its record-low policy rate — the target for overnight lending rates — at 0.25%, as expected, to continue supporting economic recovery while sticking to its recent projection that a rate hike is likely to come sometime between April and September. “The Governing […]
Text of President Biden’s Announcement of Intent to Nominate Powell to Again be Fed Chair, and Brainard as Vice Chair
WASHIINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is the text of Monday morning’s announcement by President Biden that he intends to nominate Jay Powell for another term as Federal Reserve chair, with Lael Brainard vice chair. Both intended nominees will appear with the president at 1:20 p.m. ET for remarks: Today, President Biden announced his intent to […]
Fed’s Waller Favors ‘Faster’ Pace of ‘Tapering,’ Earlier ‘Liftoff’ Given Inflation
— If Speed Tapering in January; Could Raise Funds rate in Second Quarter By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Friday he is leaning toward a “faster” pace of “tapering” Fed asset purchases, and he suggested he would also favor a relatively early “liftoff” of the federal funds rate from […]