REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Outgoing Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke ascends into central banker heaven.
Heads up! We are minutes away from the release of the Federal Open Market Committee's final decision on monetary policy under the leadership of outgoing Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, due out at 2 PM ET.
72 of the 78 market economists polled by Bloomberg predict the FOMC will taper the amount of monthly bond purchases it makes under its quantitative easing program by an additional $10 billion to $75 billion, matching the size of the first reduction to the program announced in December.
The consensus view on Wall Street is that the FOMC will continue tapering QE by $10 billion at each meeting until the program is wound down completely.
In 2014 emerging markets have come under fire as portfolio outflows exacerbate dollar shortages caused by Fed tapering and put downward pressure on EM currencies. And in recent days, these stresses have spilled over into risky assets in developed markets around the world.
What seemed like a straightforward decision for the FOMC has been complicated by this global market turmoil, but few see the Committee deviating from the $10-billion-per-meeting pace of tapering nonetheless. However, it could opt to modify the language in its policy statement to at least acknowledge the strain on emerging markets, which would probably be a positive development for risk assets.
The other big question is what the FOMC will do to shore up its forward guidance on the likely future path of short-term interest rates. The Committee has a few options, which you can read more about here.
We will have the full text of the statement LIVE at 2 PM ET. Click here to refresh for the latest updates »