WASHINGTON (AP) – Not quite yet.
That’s the decision the Federal Reserve is expected to deliver Wednesday when it announces to the financial world whether it will resume raising interest rates now – or wait until later, perhaps sometime soon.
Most economists say they think the Fed wants more time to evaluate the U.S. economy, measure the risks emanating from abroad and assess whether inflation will soon reach the policymakers’ 2 percent target rate. In the end, most Fed watchers think the next rate increase won’t come before December.
But no one knows for sure. The biggest question Wednesday is whether the Fed will hint at when it will next raise its key short-term rate – and, if so, how explicitly it will do so.
The answer – or at least the perceived answer – could come from the triple-dose of news the central bank will issue: A policy statement, updated economic forecasts and a news conference by Chair Janet Yellen.