美聯儲年內第一次加息25個基點

The US Federal Reserve raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points and signaled two more rate hikes in 2018, citing "strengthened" economic outlook in recent months.

因近幾個月經濟前景“有所改善”，美國聯邦儲蓄委員會近日宣佈將其基準利率上調25個基點，並預示2018年還將有兩次加息。

"In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation," the Fed decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 1.5 to 1.75 percent, the central bank said in a statement after concluding a two-day meeting.

在結束了爲期兩天的會議後，美國央行發表聲明稱：“鑑於當前和預期的勞動力市場及通貨膨脹情況”，美聯儲決定將聯邦基金利率的目標區間上調至1.5%至1.75%的水平。

Fed officials widely expected that the US economy would grow at a faster pace this and next year, driven by fiscal stimulus and improved overseas demands.

美聯儲官員普遍預計，在財政刺激和海外需求增加的驅動下，今明兩年的美國經濟將以一個更快的速度增長。

The U.S. economy will grow at 2.7 percent in 2018 and 2.4 percent in 2019, higher than previous projections of 2.5 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, according to the Fed's forecasts.

根據美聯儲的預測，2018年美國的經濟增長將達到2.7%，2019年則達到2.4%，高於原先預期的2.5%和2.1%。

Fed officials also expected core inflation to rise to 2.1 percent next year, slightly above the Fed's target and up from an earlier projection of 2 percent.

此外，美聯儲官員還預計明年美國的核心通脹率將漲至2.1%，略高於美聯儲的目標，並高於此前預期的2%。

Fed policymakers still envisioned three rate hikes in 2018, unchanged from their forecast in December.

美聯儲政策制定者仍預期2018年將加息三次，與去年12月的預測相同。