The Federal Reserve is expected Wednesday to lift interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point for a third straight time, and signal how much further and how fast borrowing costs may need to rise to tame a potentially corrosive outbreak of inflation.
The policy decision, due to be announced at 2 p.m. EDT (3 a.m. JST Thursday), will mark the latest move in a synchronized policy shift by global central banks that is testing the resilience of the world's economy — and the ability of countries to manage exchange rate shocks as the value of the dollar soars.
While investors largely expect the Fed to lift its policy rate by 75 basis points to the 3.00% to 3.25% range, markets could be unsettled by the updated quarterly economic projections that will be released along with the policy statement.