Newsroom

July 25, 2016

FOMC begins 2-day meeting; NAFCU expects no policy change

The Federal Open Market Committee today begins its two-day policy-setting meeting to determine the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy moves, if any.

NAFCU Chief Economist and Director of Research Curt Long does not foresee any changes to policy following the meeting, which concludes Wednesday. While some Fed officials have noted that a rate hike could come as early as September, Long does not foresee a change until December, at the earliest.

Long said that the U.K.'s decision to leave the European Union has not had as big an impact on financial markets as many expected, and the strong June employment report eased concerns about the domestic economy. However, he noted, it is widely expected that the FOMC will hold off on a rate hike this week due to weak business investment and slow global growth.

NAFCU will issue a Macro Data Flash report after the close of the meeting on Wednesday detailing the outcome.

After the close of its meeting in June, the FOMC left the federal funds target rate unchanged at a range of 0.25 to 0.5 percent.