The Federal Reserve’s top policymaking body on Wednesday pulled the trigger on another increase in interest rates, the first since Donald Trump became president, and signaled there will be two more hikes this year.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which sets the key borrowing rate that affects interest payments on everything from mortgages to savings accounts, raised rates one-quarter of a percentage point. Still, the FOMC emphasized that it plans to nudge up interest rates gradually. The key rate now stands at between 3/4 of a percent and 1 percent.
The central bank's nascent campaign to move toward a more normal interest rate environment could dampen economic growth and the stock market rally, potentially putting the Fed on a collision course with Trump, who hopes to jumpstart the economy through tax cuts and infrastructure spending.
In a statement following two days of meetings this week, the FOMC said inflation has risen, “moving close” to the central bank's target of 2 percent, mainly due to increases in energy and food prices.
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