FOMC: Steady as she goes. The FOMC announcement on 30 April is unlikely to lead to any unexpected changes on the policy front. The Fed funds rate will be left unchanged and the taper will continue with another USD10bn reduction. The Fed will purchase USD25bn of longer-term Treasury securities and USD20bn of agency MBS next month. The committee is expected to confirm that it expects to continue “to reduce the pace of asset purchases in further measured steps at future meetings.” Given the shift in forward guidance last meeting from quantitative thresholds to a more broad-based qualitative assessment, the FOMC text ... (full story)