Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech to the Jackson Hole economic conference on Friday will likely offer few new suggestions about when the U.S. central bank may start reducing its massive asset purchases, according to analysts.

Powell has suggested the central bank could begin the tapering of its asset purchases this year. Speaking at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's annual Jackson Hole economic summit, Powell said progress on the employment and inflation goals continued to be made.

"We have said that we would continue our asset purchases at the current pace until we see substantial further progress toward our maximum employment and price stability goals, measured since last December, when we first articulated this guidance.

My view is that the 'substantial further progress' test has been met for inflation. There has also been clear progress toward maximum employment," Powell said. "At the Federal Open Market Committee's recent July meeting, I was of the view, as were most participants, that if the economy evolved broadly as anticipated, it could be appropriate to start reducing the pace of asset purchases this year.

 The intervening month has brought more progress in the form of a strong employment report for July, but also the further spread of the Delta variant," he added. The Fed chair, however, also said the pace of tapering would not carry direct signals regarding the timing of interest rate liftoff.

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