Federal Reserve’s Monetary Committee has expectedly voted collectively to maintain the interest rate in the US unchanged at its previous value, which is 1.75 per cent.
The decision came amidst rising political tensions, both internally and also externally. On the one hand, the ongoing trade war between the US and China is still no closer to being resolved.
On the other hand, the President has recently criticised US monetary policy of being damaging to the geopolitical interests of the US.
Donald Trump, who blamed Jerome Powell and his colleagues’ advocacy of ‘high interest rates’, maintains that the current monetary policy is disadvantaging US business abroad, which are not as competitive as their foreign counterparts.
Nevertheless, the FOMC has justified its ultimate decision by pointing out to exclusively economic indicators in its monetary policy statement.
“[…] the labor market remains strong and that economic activity has been rising at a moderate rate. Job gains have been solid, on average, in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. […] On a 12-month basis, overall inflation and inflation for items other than food and energy are running below 2 percent. […] The Committee judges that the current stance of monetary policy is appropriate to support sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near the Committee’s symmetric 2 percent objective.”
Overall, the expressed remarks in the monetary policy statement exemplify the Committee’s outlook for mid-term development.
Given the signs of robust employment and inflationary growth, it is unlikely for the FED to cut the rate further any time soon.
Thus, the 1.75 per cent interest rate is likely to persist well-into 2020.
Meanwhile, the dollar fell against the other major currencies on the news that the interest rates in the US may be kept unchanged for at least two more fiscal quarters.
The USDCAD tumbled by 0.44 per cent in yesterday’s trading session, thus confirming the longer-term bearish outlook on the currency pair, which was already established prior to the monetary policy statement.
The price is currently trading close to 1.31646, with the next crucial target level seemingly being the major support level at 1.31166.