WASHINGTON, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve's annual Jackson Hole economic policy symposium will be held in person in late August this year, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, which hosts the conference.
The Kansas City Fed said Thursday in a statement that it is "proceeding with plans to host a modified, in-person program" for this year's economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Aug. 26-28.
"The event will adhere to all health and safety guidelines that are in place at the time of the program. Closer to the event, we anticipate providing notice of keynote speeches that will be available to the public virtually, in real-time," the statement said.
The decision to hold in-person conference this year signals rising optimism among Fed officials that life in the United States will return to normal, as about 40 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This year's Jackson Hole conference will be closely watched by market participants as Fed Chair Jerome Powell could use the occasion to signal that the U.S. economy has made "substantial further progress" and the Fed is on track to tapering its asset purchase program.
Several influential Fed officials have recently suggested that it will be important for the central bank to begin discussing scaling back asset purchases at upcoming policy meetings if the U.S. economy continues to recovery strongly from the pandemic.
The Fed has pledged to keep its benchmark interest rates unchanged at the record-low level of near zero, while continuing its asset purchase program at least at the current pace of 120 billion U.S. dollars per month until the economic recovery makes "substantial further progress."
The Jackson Hole economic policy symposium usually brought together a distinguished group of central bankers, policymakers, academics and economists from around the world, but it was held virtually last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enditem
