The Federal Reserve will announce its latest policy decision this afternoon.
Although the Fed is expected to keep interest rates pinned at near-zero, the central bank may offer some clues on when it will slow its aggressive asset purchase program.
Since the depths of the pandemic, the Fed has been snatching up $120 billion a month in U.S Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities.
With inflationary pressures rising and the economy on the path to recovery, some Fed officials said they were eager to have discussions on paring back the pace of the so-called quantitative easing program.
But the Fed remains concerned about the recovery in the labor market, as May jobs data showed the economy is still 7.6 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels.
The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will release a statement at 2 p.m. ET, alongside a set of economic projections mapping out forecasts for economic indicators like inflation and unemployment.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will then be pressed on the central bank’s policy stance at a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Brian Cheung is a reporter covering the Fed, economics, and banking for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter @bcheungz.
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