On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve (Fed) increased its guidance rate for the second time in the year and foresees additional increases due to the solid growth rate of the US economy. It also showed more optimism in its growth forecasts, also estimating a higher rate of inflation for 2018.
After this increase of a quarter of a percentage point (0.25) that was expected by the markets, the rates now evolve in a band of 1.75% to 2%, indicates a statement from the Fed Monetary Committee (FOMC) .
This is the seventh increase since the end of the zero rate monetary policy at the end of 2015 that had been adopted to sustain the reactivation after the financial crisis. This decision suggests that the cost of automotive credit, real estate, and other loans agreed by banks to consumers could increase soon.
The FOMC also foresees two more adjustments by the end of the year, one more than projected until now, given the inflationary rhythm, slightly faster than expected.
In relation to its last statement published in May, the Fed is even more optimistic about the quality of growth, which went from “moderate” to “solid”.
The central bank stresses that household consumption, the engine of the world’s leading economy, accelerated and that the investments of companies continue to grow “strongly”.
In a shortened statement, which does not mention the massive budgetary stimulus agreed by the administration of President Donald Trump, which boosted the activity, nor the commercial tension with the US trade partners, the Fed foresees a “continuous expansion”.