Thought Of The Week Fed Hawkishness, Higher GDP Forecasts Markets were focused on the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) June Meeting this week. While no one was expecting a change in interest rates, it was interesting to look out for any changes in the dot plot which could signal a shift in the future inflation expectations. Afterall, many economic indicators have shown that the recovery has strengthened significantly from its last meeting due to the speed of vaccinations and strong policy support. The quarterly projections showed 7 out of 18 Fed officials favouring a hike in 2022 (vs 4 in March) and 13 favouring at least one hike by the end of 2023 (vs 7 in March). It was a hawkish surprise to markets as stocks declined after the two-day meeting concluded on Thursday. The Fed officials also seemed to have considerable confidence in the economic recovery and signalled...