The manager turned first to a discussion of financial market developments over the period. Domestic financial conditions were little changed, on net, and remained highly accommodative. The spread of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus weighed on the near-term growth outlook and median respondents to the Open Market Desk’s Survey of Primary Dealers marked down projections for gross domestic product (GDP) growth and revised up projections for inflation this year. Nonetheless, expectations for the trajectory of growth beyond 2021 were little changed. Implied forward inflation compensation two to four years ahead ... (full story)