美聯儲結束QE後注意力轉向加息

The US Federal Reserve is shifting its focus to its first interest rate rise after ending an era of unprecedented asset purchases.

美聯儲(Fed)在結束空前的資產購買時期後，正將注意力轉向首次加息。

In a marked change of language, the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee highlighted an improvement in the US labour market. Dropping its previous view that there was “significant under utilisation” of labour resources it said instead that this was “gradually diminishing”.

負責制定利率的聯邦公開市場委員會(Federal Open Market Committee)的聲明措辭發生明顯變化，強調美國勞動力市場出現好轉。該委員會放棄了之前的觀點，即勞動力資源“利用率顯著不足”，而是表示這種情況正“逐漸減少”。

It marks a big shift in the Fed’s horizons away from aggressive monetary stimulus via its third round of asset purchases – QE3 – and towards the need for an eventual rise in interest rates from their current level close to zero.

這標誌着美聯儲的注意力發生巨大轉變，從通過第三輪資產購買計劃(QE3)實施大規模貨幣刺激，轉向利率最終需要從目前接近於零的水平上調。

The Fed voted for the statement by a majority of 9-1. The dissenter was not one of the “hawks” but Narayana Kocherlakota of the Minneapolis Fed, a “dove”, who wanted the Fed to commit to a longer period of low rates.

美聯儲以9票對1票的絕對優勢支持這一聲明。投反對票的並非“鷹派”之一，而是鴿派——明尼阿波利斯聯儲銀行(Minneapolis Fed)行長那拉亞納•柯薛拉柯塔(Narayana Kocherlakota)，他希望美聯儲承諾在更長時期維持低利率。

The statement shows the Fed has shrugged off a bout of market turmoil and concerns about the global economy. It noted, however, that “market-based measures of inflation expectations have declined somewhat”, a sign of continued concern.

這一聲明顯示，美聯儲沒有理會一波市場動盪以及有關全球經濟的擔憂。不過聲明指出，“衡量通脹預期的基於市場的指標有所下降”，表明美聯儲繼續對此感到擔憂。

The Fed kept its forecast of low rates for a “considerable time”, but explicitly tied the start of that period to this month, and inserted an escape clause to allow for earlier rate rises if the economy improves faster than expected.

美聯儲繼續預測，低利率將保持“相當長一段時間”，但明確將這段時期的起始點與本月聯繫在一起，並加入一條例外條款：如果經濟改善速度快於預期，將考慮提前加息。

As expected, the Fed completed the taper of its last $15bn-a-month in asset purchases.

美聯儲一如預期地結束了縮減過程，終止其最後的每月150億美元的資產購買計劃。

It began its third round of quantitative easing in September 2012 when it pledged to buy $85bn of long-term assets every month until there was a substantial improvement in the jobs market.

2012年9月，美聯儲開始推出第三輪量化寬鬆政策，當時美聯儲承諾將每月購買850億美元的長期資產，直到就業市場出現重大改善。

The Fed began to taper last December and the pace of purchases was down to $15bn-a-month ahead of this meeting.

去年12月，美聯儲開始縮減這一購買計劃，在此次利率會議之前資產購買規模降至每月150億美元。