After replacing the long-used phrase ‘considerable time’ with ‘patient’ in December – a remark Yellen suggested at the time meant doing nothing on policy for “at least a couple of meetings,” this week’s Fed meeting was always destined to be something of a holding event, marking time ahead of fresh guidance at the next meeting on 18 March, or perhaps more likely at Yellen’s semi-annual testimony in February (date not yet announced). In that sense and given the dynamics at play at the moment – a strong US economic recovery, but fragility, unevenness and signs of disinflation/deflation elsewhere – the Fed needed to keep its options open.
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