How much longer can the Fed be boring and predictable?

The Fed, as expected, left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at near zero at the end of its two-day policy meeting, but the US central bank cannot maintain an easy money policy indefinitely.

Whoever said it doesn’t pay to be boring and predictable, never walked a mile in Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell’s shoes. As expected, the Fed closed out its latest two-day policy meeting on Wednesday having kept its benchmark interest rate near zero and without making changes to its bond buying programme designed to keep long-term interest rates low. In another unsurprising move, policymakers acknowledged that the economy is on the mend without being too effusive.