Investors doubt Fed will start lifting rate in mid-2015

Washington

INVESTORS eyeing recent global economic and political turmoil are expressing doubt about forecasts from Federal Reserve officials - and most Wall Street economists - that the Fed will begin to lift its benchmark rate in mid-2015.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday this week after six weeks of volatility in global financial markets. Chair Janet Yellen and her colleagues will focus instead on a robust US outlook and end their bond-buying programme as planned, according to 62 of 64 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.