Washington, DC, May 10, 2006--Federal Reserve policy-makers began a meeting on Wednesday that economists expect will yield a 16th straight interest-rate hike but also may signal that future increases are less certain.
The central bank's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee began meeting at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), a half-hour earlier than usual, a Fed official said. The central bank cited no reason for the early start.
A decision on interest rates is expected around 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT), together with a statement on U.S. central bank's analysis of economic conditions and the level of policy accommodation.
The U.S. central bank is widely expected to bump up overnight borrowing costs by a quarter-percentage point to 5 percent.
But there is considerable uncertainty about what the Fed might say about its future plans in its post-meeting announcement. Some analysts believe the rate hike will be the last in a cycle dating to June 2004; others think economic momentum will force the Fed to push credit costs higher and keep inflation at bay.
