The US Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged today in its first policy decision since President Donald Trump took office, as the central bank awaits greater clarity on his economic policies.
Trump has promised a large infrastructure spending program, tax cuts, a rollback of regulations and a renegotiation of trade deals but has offered few details or a timeline for their roll out since his victory in the November 8 election.
The central bank's latest policy decision is scheduled to be released at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) today at the conclusion of a two-day meeting. Fed Chair Janet Yellen is not due to hold a press conference. The policy decision will come a week after Yellen underscored that the US economy is near full employment and warned of a "nasty surprise" on inflation if the Fed is too slow with its rate hikes.
Economists polled by Reuters have all but ruled out a rate increase at this week's meeting. Investors next see an interest rate rise in June, according to Fed futures data compiled by the CME Group. The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate at its last policy meeting in December.
