美联储很可能周三加息

Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve chair, is likely to set in train an acceleration in the pace of interest rate increases on Wednesday as the US central bank responds to an economy that is hitting maximum employment and inflation that is nearing target.

美联储(Fed)主席珍妮特•耶伦(Janet Yellen)很可能会从本周三开始加快升息步伐，其背景是美国央行对美国经济达到最高就业水平且通胀接近目标做出回应。

An increase in short-term rates by a quarter point is probable at the meeting following a parade of signals by key policymakers in recent weeks. But with jobs data on Friday beating Wall Street expectations, previously sceptical traders are now betting that the Fed will be able to deliver on December forecasts for a total of three increases this year — with some analysts projecting four rises.

在关键政策制定者最近几周发出一系列信号后，美联储很可能会在周三开会时将短期利率上调25个基点。但由于上周五的就业数据超过华尔街预期，之前持怀疑态度的交易员现在认为，美联储将能够兑现去年12月提出的今年加息3次的预测，一些分析师甚至预测会加息4次。

The Fed’s decision this month to deliberately and rapidly shift market expectations to a March increase underscores the strength of the US data and also the influence of buoyant financial conditions shown by the blockbuster rally in the stock market.

美联储本月决定刻意且快速地引导市场预期3月加息，突显出美国经济数据的强劲以及股市飙升所显示的高涨金融状况的影响。

President Donald Trump, who has sought to claim credit for the economy’s growth, accused Ms Yellen in his campaign for keeping interest rates low to burnish Barack Obama’s legacy.

希望把经济增长归功于自己的美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)，曾在竞选期间批评耶伦把利率维持在低位是为了给巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)的政治遗产增色。

But the Fed chair got a boost from the White House on Sunday when Gary Cohn, a senior economic adviser to the president, said the Fed “has been doing a good job”.

然而耶伦周日获得了白宫的支持，当时特朗普的高级经济顾问加里•科恩(Gary Cohn)表示，美联储“一直做得不错”。

Strikingly, the Fed’s stance does not yet appear to have been heavily influenced by the prospects of a fiscal loosening by Congress.

值得注意的是，美联储的立场似乎还未受到美国国会放松财政政策前景的重大影响。