The US central bank (Fed) announced on Wednesday that it would keep its key rates between 0 and 0.25%, but signaled that it planned to raise them in mid-March amid high inflation and a weak market. work considered solid.
“With inflation well above 2% and a strong labor market, the (Monetary Policy) Committee expects it will soon be appropriate to raise the target range for the rate,” the institution said in a statement. a statement released after its regular monetary policy meeting.
Bank officials said it would end its asset purchases “in early March”, a sine qua non for raising rates possibly in the wake of its meeting scheduled for mid-March.
Key rates had been lowered to a range of 0 to 0.25% in March 2020, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, to support the economy through consumption.
The objective is to slow inflation by weighing on demand, by pushing up interest rates on loans granted by commercial banks to individuals and businesses.
The Fed has also signaled a reduction in supply constraints, which should help to slow inflation.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. GMT).
The publication of the Fed’s press release initially caused the Nasdaq to jump by more than 3% before tempering its reaction.
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The Fed had groomed the ground at its previous meeting in mid-December, announcing that it would end its asset purchases earlier than expected, starting in March instead of June.
It had also, for the first time, ceased to qualify as “temporary” this inflation which has been, for months, well above its long-term objective of 2%.
Prices have climbed 7% in 2021, their fastest pace since 1982, according to the CPI index. The Fed favors another indicator of inflation, the PCE index, whose data for 2021 will be published on Friday.