The Federal Reserve will wait six months before raising interest rates again, according to a survey of top economists that suggests policymakers will maintain a cautious approach to tightening policy until they see the economic package US president-elect Donald Trump has promised.
Officials will raise the Fed’s key short-term rate just twice in 2017, starting with a move in June, an FT survey of 31 Wall Street economists found. The findings come days after the central bank pushed its official rate higher for only the second time since the financial crisis and rattled bond markets by projecting three further moves next year.
“Global growth will improve next year but remain under its long term trend,” said Gregory Daco, an economist with Oxford Economics. “Mr Trump’s policies, and the expectation of them, will be pivotal to global developments.”