WASHINGTON–With attention focused elsewhere in this city today, the Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee is scheduled to wrap up two days of meetings. It is not expected to make any changes to rates, having earlier stated the current low-rate scenario will likely last for several more years.
The Fed, which found itself being politicized during the presidential campaign, is likely looking to lay low, according to at least one report.
“I don’t think they want to get into anything political — anywhere near anything political,” Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, told the New York Times, saying he expects Chairman Jerome H. Powell will nonetheless surely face election-related queries at his webcast news conference. “I’m sure he’s preparing in front of a mirror right now to answer some of these questions.”
During the meeting, Fed Officials are expected to discuss their future bond buying plans but economists expect them to hold off on major decisions as the economy’s path ahead remains “wildly unsettled,” the Times reported.
The Times noted manufacturing data have shown recent improvement, and spending on goods has been strong, bolstered by savings stashed away earlier in the year even as expanded unemployment benefits have lapsed and small business loans have run dry.
“Yet the situation could darken as consumers exhaust their savings and coronavirus cases surge, and the pace of job gains is already slowing,” the report added.