Fed Likely to Keep Rates Low, Affirm Asset Floor, Survey Shows

The Federal Reserve next week is likely to affirm its pledge to keep interest rates low for an “extended period” and maintain the floor on its holdings of securities, say economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

The Fed’s Open Market Committee at its Sept. 21 meeting will hold off from expanding the balance sheet by purchasing securities, according to 60 of 64 analysts surveyed Sept. 16-17. Fifty-four of 63 economists said the Fed will leave unchanged a sentence saying high unemployment and low inflation warrant “exceptionally low” rates for an “extended period.”