The Federal Reserve is expected to keep the fed funds rate at 0-0.25% and bond-buying at the current $120 billion monthly pace during the July 2021 meeting. Officials probably have discussed eventual tapering of stimulus and the mechanics behind it but most investors believe any details will be reveled only at the Jackson Hole symposium next month. The statement will likely sound more dovish than in the previous meetings as the spread of the coronavirus delta variant poses renewed risks to the economic outlook and as Chair Powell reiterated several times the Fed’s benchmark standard of “substantial further progress” toward full employment and price stability is still a ways off. In June, the Fed kept rates and QE steady but raised its expectations for inflation this year and brought forward the time frame on when it will next raise interest rates.