RHB | United States | Yellen and the Dots

Economic Research	18 June 2015
UNITED STATES
Economic Highlights
Yellen and the Dots In our judgment, there are three takeaways from the June 16-17 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting: 1) The majority of Fed participants and the FOMC are still leaning toward lifting-off in 2015, underscoring the preference for an earlier-and-shallower anticipated rate path over a later-and-steeper trajectory; 2) While the FOMC, on balance, was slightly more cheerful with their assessments on the economy, the changes to the fed funds rate and economic projections from Fed participants were more eye-catching; 3) Even though the year-end 2015 median target range for the fed funds rate mid-point projection from participants was unchanged at 0.63%, the odds of delivering only one rate hike or possibly pausing longer following the initial increase this year seem to have increased since the last meeting. In particular, the downshift from the more hawkish participants and the lowering of the forecast mode to 0.38% were notable. Economist:  Thomas Lam  | +65 6533 0389
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