Tag Archives: Federal Funds Target Rate

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) stood still Wednesday as all eyes in the mortgage industry awaited their announcement to leave the federal funds rate at its current level.

Economic slowdowns have caused many to believe that the Fed will cut rates instead of raising them in the next few months But one analysis says that is not likely to happen.

It's no secret that the Fed is taking a gradual approach to further rate hikes, but it may be even more gradual than originally expected.

Monetary policy "cannot respond to every blip in financial markets," according to Esther George, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

The Federal Open Market Committee will convene for the first time in 2016 and the first time since December's historic rate hike. Will they choose to raise the federal funds target rate again?

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said that while he hopes more normalization is appropriate, at the same time it is important to carefully manage risks in the economy.

Some members of the Federal Open Market Committee said last month's decision to raise the federal funds target rate for the first time in nine years was a "close call."

What is in store for the mortgage market now that the Fed liftoff has finally happened?

The Federal Reserve made the long-awaited, much-anticipated announcement on Wednesday afternoon that federal funds target rate will increase by 25 basis points from its near-zero level where it has been since 2006.

While waiting for the Fed to raise rates, banks will likely place "additional focus on cost controls to improve operating efficiencies and extend balance sheet duration" to reduce margin compression, according to a recent report from Fitch Ratings. Bank margins have fallen to 3.02 percent as of the first quarter of 2015, the lowest average since 1984, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said.