With a new year and a new administration in the White House, the US central bank nonetheless faces an unprecedented challenge in guiding the post-pandemic economic recovery.
One thing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is unlikely to face from President Joe Biden is the barrage of Twitter attacks he was subject to, sometimes daily, under former president Donald Trump.
These challenges could be discussed when the Fed's policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) opens its first two-day policy meeting of the year on Tuesday.
The initial rollout of Covid-19 vaccines has raised hopes companies will be able to open for business and shoppers will open their wallets, improving the economy's prospects.
But the historic nature of the job losses during the pandemic -- more than 10 million US workers remain unemployed -- coupled with the likelihood inflation in some sectors could spike once the recovery takes hold, will test the Federal Reserve's limited toolkit.
Reference: Bangkok Post
Thai
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