Stay braced for two more Fed hikes in 2017: Economists

The Federal Reserve will increase interest rates twice more in 2017 and begin shrinking its balance sheet before year’s end despite a clear downturn in the outlook for inflation, according to 43 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Results of the survey, conducted between June 5 and 8, showed economists expect a rate rise at the end of the Fed’s two-day meeting on Wednesday and another in September, followed by the start of balance-sheet unwinding in the fourth quarter.