WASHINGTON—At the close of its two-day meeting Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee announced that no change will be made this month in interest rates.
"At its last meeting, the committee reaffirmed that it expects to raise rates one more time this year," said NAFCU Chief Economist Curt Long. "That will have to wait until December, most likely, and some firming of inflation will be needed in the coming months in order for that to happen. Meanwhile, the Committee sent a clear signal that it expects to start tapering the Fed's balance sheet in September. At this point, it would take a seismic event to derail those plans. "
The FOMC last raised the federal funds target rate to a range of 1% to 1.25% in June. The FOMC will meet again Sept. 19-20.