US to return seized assets

That small change would mark a broad acknowledgement that, nine years into the second-longest US economic expansion on record, monetary policy and the economy in general are starting to look increasingly normal, both domestically and abroad.

The Fed’s current monetary policy tightening cycle began in December 2015, and it has started trimming the massive portfolio of US Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities that it bought to boost the economy after the 2007-2009 recession.

The European Central Bank is expected later this week to outline its own plans to stop emergency asset purchases, highlighting Europe’s rebound from crisis.

Global growth has remained strong this year despite the risk of a global trade war and concerns about rising levels of sovereign debt.

The Fed’s policy statement and fresh economic projections are due to be released at 8pm this evening (local time).

Fed chairperson Jerome Powell is scheduled to hold a press conference half an hour later. – Reuters THE US ambassador to Malaysia has told Kuala Lumpur that assets seized by the US as part of its probe into the 1MDB fund will be monetised and returned to Malaysia, the Southeast Asian nation’s finance minister said. Minister Lim Guan Eng made the comment on Twitter following a meeting with Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, the US ambassador to Malaysia. The US Department of Justice has filed civil lawsuits to seize assets it says were bought with funds misappropriated from Malaysian state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). – Reuters