Central banks plot course through end of easy money minefield

Keeping the rate: Pedestrians talk outside the RBA building in Sydney. The central bank dropped a pledge to anchor short-term bond yields and signalled it has no plans to raise its benchmark rate anytime soon. — Bloomberg

GLOBAL central bankers are turning toward tighter monetary policy, yet still indicating they will take longer and follow different paths than investors currently expect.

Just this week, the Federal Reserve (Fed) confirmed it would start slowing its asset purchase programme, but chair Jerome Powell said he won’t consider hiking interest rates until the labour market heels further.