FOMC's decisions regarding monetary policy implementation - Sep 20, 2017

The Federal Reserve has made the following decisions to implement the monetary policy stance announced by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) in its statement on September 20th, 2017, after a 2-day meeting where it determined to leave interest rates unchanged and star the balance sheet reduction in October:

Key headlines (via Reuters):

• Fed leaves target interest rate unchanged at 1.00-1.25 pct , still sees one more rate hike in 2017
• Fed's projections point to three rate hikes in 2018, two in 2019 and one in 2020
• Fed cuts estimate of longer-run neutral rate to 2.75 pct from 3.00 pct
• Fed says to start shrinking balance sheet in October following schedule it laid out in July
• Recent storms will affect near-term economic activity but unlikely to alter course over medium term
• Inflation to rise temporarily in aftermath of hurricanes
• Apart from hurricane effect, inflation to remain somewhat below 2 pct in near term, to stabilize around 2 pct goal over medium term
• Job gains have remained solid, household spending expanding at moderate rate
• Business spending has picked up in recent quarters
• Near-term risks to the economy appear "roughly balanced," Fed monitoring inflation closely
• Fed vote in favor of policy was unanimous