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June 10, 2020 at 04:36 PM
Lower for longer. That’s been the Federal Reserve’s approach to interest rates for quite some time, but today the central bank indicated it will be holding the federal funds rate within its current 0-0.25% range through 2022.
In a statement accompanying its latest economic projections, the Fed said it expected to maintain that range “until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals.”
“Recent events,” of course, refers to the coronavirus pandemic that “is causing tremendous human and economic hardship across the United States and around the world, inflecting “sharp declines in economic activity and a surge in job losses,” and is expected to continue to hurt the economy.
The Fed decision was unanimous, and its statement was nearly identical to one released at its late April meeting, but it did deviate somewhat, setting a floor for its purchases of Treasurys, and mortgage-backed and agency securities. The Fed noted it would increase its holdings of those securities “at least at the current pace to sustain smooth market functioning” and would “continue to offer large-scale overnight and term repurchase agreement operations.”
In its economic projections, based on those of individual Fed board members and Fed bank presidents, the Fed projected a median outlook for real GDP of -6.5% this year followed by growth of 5% and 3.5% in the next two years, respectively. Unemployment was projected at a median 9.3% in 2020, falling to 6.5% in 2021 and 5.5% in 2022. Core PCE inflation was projected at 1.9% this year and 2% for the following two years.
These projections “underscore that Fed will be keeping pedal to the medal for the foreseeable future, certainly through the end of this year,” said Kevin Flanagan, head of fixed income strategy at WisdomTree.
That commitment “is a modest positive for stocks and a negative for the dollar,” said Jeffrey Kleintop, chief global investment strategist at Charles Schwab & Co. The Fed sees ”lingering weakness in the economy,” yet its 9.3% year-end unemployment rate projection is “significantly lower than the current 13.3% (and in the single digits),” said Kleintop.
