The U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday as expected, but signaled that it would increase rates by the end of the year.
 
The Fed also said that it would begin from next month to trim its debt holdings of around four-point-five trillion dollars acquired in the years after the 2008 financial crisis.
 
Twelve of the 16 officials on the Federal Open Market Committee projected another rate increase this year, the same number as in the Fed’s last round of forecasts in June.
 
Analysts estimate that the Fed is likely to hike the rate in December.