WASHINGTON (AP) – Federal Reserve officials are about to address a question investors have been mulling for weeks:
Do they remain “patient” about raising interest rates?
The answer will come around 2 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, when the Fed will issue a statement after its latest policy meeting ends and in a news conference to follow with Chair Janet Yellen.
Since December, the Fed has said it can be “patient” in beginning to raise a key rate from a record low near zero. Most analysts think it will drop “patient” from its statement to signal it’s moving toward a rate increase, perhaps as soon as June, given the strengthening job market. A rate hike would ripple through the economy and could slow borrowing and possibly squeeze stocks and bonds.
Other economists think that whether or not the Fed drops “patient,” it will say that any move to raise rates will reflect the latest data and that the central bank will remain flexible. Key sectors of the economy have been less than robust of late, and inflation remains far below the Fed’s target rate. Some analysts foresee no rate hike before September. A few predict none before year’s end at the earliest.