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BlockBeats News, June 18, Federal Reserve Chair Powell said that none of the 19 participants at the meeting believed that policy tightening was appropriate today. (Xinhua News)

The US FOMC released its first policy statement under the leadership of its new chair, Waller. The notably concise length of the statement attracted significant attention. The June policy statement contains only 132 words, whereas the April statement extended to 345 words, making the latest announcement markedly shorter. The structure of the statement has also been adjusted: the policy decision now appears at the very beginning, followed by only a brief overview of economic conditions. Furthermore, the statement has entirely removed information regarding which officials voted for or against the decision, as well as any reasons for dissent. Overall, this statement clearly tightens the Federal Reserve’s forward guidance. The shortened length also reduces the opportunity for central bank observers to conduct the traditional, detailed word-by-word analysis for detecting subtle policy signals.

According to Golden Ten Data on June 18, Corpay Chief Market Strategist Karl Schamotta stated: “This time, the Federal Reserve’s decision is ‘short, but not sweet.’ Waller quickly made his mark on the central bank’s communication strategy by heavily revising the official statement, practically removing all forward guidance and stripping out much of the background information that financial markets usually focus on. The committee has clearly turned hawkish, with the median forecast significantly raising inflation expectations—this suggests that officials do not believe the U.S.-Iran agreement reached this weekend will meaningfully ease price pressures. Moreover, the median projection indicates at least one rate hike this year, which stands in stark contrast to previous market expectations for a rate cut.”