Global markets are watching closely as the US Federal Reserve meets on Tuesday and Wednesday, amid widespread speculation that it’s to raise its benchmark interest rate for the second time this year.

As the year comes to an end, Business Line looks back at some of the main economic changes of 2016.

A crucial meeting is underway for the US central bank, the Federal Reserve.

Janet Yellen, the head of the US central bank, has said Donald Trump’s election as US president does not change the Federal Reserve’s plans for an interest rate hike “relatively soon” to be followed by a gradual pace of increases after that, unless there were any dramatic changes.

Decoding the thinking of the Federal Reserve is this week’s top task for the financial markets.

Much more expensive fuel was one of the reasons that US consumer prices recorded their biggest gain in five months in September – up 1.5 percent year-on-year and 0.3 percent higher compared to August.

There was a pause in US employment growth in August.