Once-Disparaged Fed Rate Forecasts Now Seen as Crucial Guidance
Janet Yellen, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, D.C., on March 18, 2015.
Photographer: Andrew Harrer/BloombergA year after playing down the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate projections, Chair Janet Yellen looks to have embraced the so-called dot plot as a new form of forward guidance on the central bank’s intentions.
Yellen highlighted the newest quarterly rate forecasts, which dropped markedly from December, in her opening comments at her press conference Wednesday in Washington, saying they were in line with the policy path the Fed envisages. That contrasts with her remarks in her first press conference as chair a year ago, when she cautioned against looking to the dot-plot for guidance on Fed policy.