{"text":[[{"start":8.46,"text":"The Federal Reserve has kept US borrowing costs on hold days before midterm elections even as the surge in fuel prices sparked by the Iran war reverberates across the world’s biggest economy."}],[{"start":19.04,"text":"The Federal Open Market Committee held rates in a 3.75 per cent to 4 per cent range following a 10-to-two vote, with governor Lisa Cook and Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack favouring a quarter-point rise."}],[{"start":31.72,"text":"Rate-setters on Wednesday said “the accumulation of more information will help the committee determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the committee’s 2 per cent goal”."}],[{"start":42.92,"text":"The decision, widely expected by Wall Street, comes despite fresh evidence that inflation is accelerating and spreading across the economy both as petrol and diesel prices jump and as the AI boom fuels strong growth."}],[{"start":55.72,"text":"The Fed increased rates for the first time in more than three years in September in an attempt to contain inflation, with officials also projecting a further increase this year. The move defied President Donald Trump’s attempts to press the central bank into drastically lowering rates."}],[{"start":70.76,"text":"While Fed chair Kevin Warsh said at a press conference following Wednesday’s meeting that politics plays no role in monetary policy, some economists said policymakers would be reluctant to raise rates again this month with the critical election that will determine control of Congress looming next Tuesday."}],[{"start":87.12,"text":"Warsh vowed to continue administering “new monetary medicine” to bring inflation under control after more than five years of above-target price rises."}],[{"start":95.36,"text":"The headline personal consumption expenditures measure the Fed targets is at 3.4 per cent, with figures published on Thursday expected to show an increase for the year to September."}],[{"start":104.92,"text":"“We’re taking responsibility for it — and if you think that we’re tolerating some inflation targets somewhere in the twos, let us disabuse you of it,” he said."}],[{"start":113.28,"text":"Warsh added that he was “encouraged by the progress we’ve made in a short period of time” while also acknowledging that the Fed had not “achieved price stability”."}],[{"start":122.8,"text":"Warsh, who is undertaking a sweeping review of the central bank’s strategy and operations, also on Wednesday announced a significant overhaul of the Fed’s meeting calendar."}],[{"start":130.92,"text":"The FOMC will vote on monetary policy in only seven of its eight meetings next year, and six in 2028, in a shift from a practice that dates to Paul Volcker’s tenure as Fed chair in 1981. The panel will still hold eight meetings a year, but the non-policy meetings will be used to discuss strategy more broadly."}],[{"start":151.28,"text":"In justifying the changes, Warsh said “getting policy right involves assessing near-term developments at timely, regular and information-rich intervals”. It was equally important, he added, that policymakers “reserve time and space for strategic deliberations, looking out over time horizons”, which he described as the “left side of the decimal point”."}],[{"start":173.96,"text":"Warsh also signalled that the big rise in borrowing costs this year, prompted by Trump’s Iran war and the central bank’s rate rise, had tightened financial conditions for households and businesses. But Warsh said he was “unwilling to call them tight”."}],[{"start":188.56,"text":"The muted rhetoric from Warsh on inflation, combined with few hints on his views on the next steps for monetary policy, had a modest effect on markets."}],[{"start":197.32,"text":"The two-year Treasury yield, which is sensitive to short-term rates, fell 0.04 percentage points on Wednesday to 4.7 per cent. Market-based expectations for a rate rise at the next meeting in December ticked up to 85 per cent following Wednesday’s meeting, compared with 78 per cent the previous day, according to CME Group data based on federal funds futures."}],[{"start":220.08,"text":"“We expect the Fed to resume rate hikes in December,” said Kay Haigh, global head of fixed income at Goldman Sachs Asset Management."}],[{"start":228.76,"text":"Additional reporting by George Steer in New York"}],[{"start":237.04,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793234498_8831.mp3"}