Investing.com - The Federal Reserve said it would start to unwind $4.5 trillion in financial crisis-era support starting in October and stuck to its forecast to raise interest rates again this year, saying hurricane damage won’t derail an otherwise healthy expansion.
“Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria have devastated many communities, inflicting severe hardship,” the Federal Open Market Committee said in its statement on Wednesday following a two-day meeting in Washington.
“Storm-related disruptions and rebuilding will affect economic activity in the near term, but past experience suggests that the storms are unlikely to materially alter the course of the national economy over the medium term.”
As expected, policymakers left the benchmark interest rate unchanged in a range of 1% to 1.25%.
“We continue to expect that the ongoing strength of the economy will warrant gradual increases in that rate to sustain a healthy labor market and stabilize inflation around our 2 percent longer-run objective,” Chair Janet Yellen said at a press conference.