美聯儲按兵不動 暗示12月可能加息

The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged last Wednesday in its last monetary policy decision before the US election, but signaled it could hike in December as the economy gathers momentum and inflation picks up.

美國聯邦儲備局上週三維持利率不變，但暗示因經濟動能加強且通脹上升，可能在12月加息。這是美聯儲在美國總統大選前的最後一次貨幣政策決定。

The US central bank said the economy had gained steam and job gains remained solid.

美國央行表示，經濟動能已經增強且就業增長保持穩健。

Policymakers also expressed more optimism that inflation was moving toward their 2% target.

政策制定者也對通脹正朝2%的目標邁進表達了更加樂觀的看法。

"The committee judges that the case for an increase in the federal funds rate has continued to strengthen but decided, for the time being, to wait for some further evidence of continued progress toward its objectives," the Fed said.

美聯儲稱："委員會認爲上調聯邦基金利率的理據持續增強，但決定暫不採取行動，等待經濟繼續向目標邁進的進一步跡象。"

That suggests the bar is low for a rate increase at the Fed's final policy meeting of the year in mid-December.

這表明，美聯儲在12月中旬舉行的今年最後一次貨幣政策會議上加息的門檻相當低。

The Fed said it still expects the downward inflationary pressure from lower energy and import prices to prove temporary.

美聯儲表示，其預計由低能源及低進口價格等暫時性因素帶來的通脹壓力仍將走低。

Fed policymakers will be able to sift through the January and February employment reports before their next policy meeting in March.

美聯儲決策者將會根據1月及2月的就業報告，在明年3月開始的下次政策會議前進行細究。

All the Fed policymakers participated in the two-day meeting in person, a central bank spokesman said.

據一位美國央行發言人表示，所有的美聯儲決策者都將親自參加這一爲期兩天的會議。