Economics
Powell to Stress Fed Patience on Rate Hikes: Decision Day Guide
- Chairman begins new era of press conferences at every meeting
- Committee will debate tweaking or removing forward guidance
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Jerome Powell will debut the Federal Reserve’s latest communications strategy -- a press conference eight times a year -- by emphasizing patience in raising interest rates, a message the chairman struggled to deliver in December.
The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to keep rates unchanged in a 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent target range at the conclusion of a two-day gathering on Wednesday in Washington. Its policy statement due at 2 p.m. may alter a commitment to further gradual hikes. Thirty minutes later Powell will address reporters, inaugurating his new approach of holding a media briefing after every FOMC meeting.