(RTTNews) - Citing inflation developments and further improvement in the labor market, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced its widely expected decision to accelerate the pace of reductions to its asset purchases program. The decision to accelerate the reductions in asset purchases comes as the Fed noted supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic and the reopening of the economy have continued to contribute to elevated levels of inflation. As predicted by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during Congressional testimony last month, the central bank stopped using the term "transitory" when referring to inflation.