Federal Reserve 'dot Plot' Still Signals 4 Interest-rate Hikes In 2016

The Federal Reserve's so-called dot plot signaled that the central bank still plans to increase interest rates four times in 2016, bringing its benchmark rate to a median of 1.4%. And the Fed's long-run goal of 3.5% remained the same. Yet the Fed also expects to act a bit less aggressively in 2017 and 2018. The bank sees the median fed funds rate at 2.4% at the end of 2017 vs. a prior forecast of 2.6%. The 2018 target was reduced a touch to 3.3% from 3.4%. Each dot in the dot plot reflects where individual members of the FOMC expect interest rates to end up at the end of the year.