Federal Reserve officials are under pressure to prove they are serious about stamping out elevated inflation by backing up their hawkish rhetoric with a new set of interest rate projections set to be published this week.
Following its two-day policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee is on Wednesday expected to raise interest rates by at least 0.75 percentage points for the third time in a row as it tries to hit the brakes on the overheating US economy.
The decision, which would lift the federal funds rate to a new target range of 3 per cent to 3.25 per cent at a minimum, will be accompanied by a fresh “dot plot” that compiles officials’ forecasts for interest rates until the end of 2025.
“The message has to be that they don’t see an end of the tunnel in terms of rate hikes,” said Ethan Harris, head of global economics research at Bank of America. “It’s less about how big the rate moves are going to be…
