Doha – Mubasher: The Federal Reserve, the US central bank, is expected to raise interest rates once during 2016, according to a report released on Sunday by Qatar National Bank (QNB).

The report said the Federal Reserve restored the market’s attention as confidence increases that the May jobs report was a hiccup in an otherwise strongly improving US labour market and that the Brexit shock is mostly confined to the UK.

QNB said financial markets seem to have discounted the possibility of a rate hike by the Federal Reserve in 2016, due to a dismal May jobs report and the Brexit vote which increased uncertainty in financial markets.

QNB suggests that economic conditions are ripe for another rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year, but ruled out a rate hike in the September meeting as markets are not yet prepared for it.

The report noted to Goldman Sachs’ expectations that 90% of all US rate increases were at least 50% priced in 30 days in advance.

The bank believes that while September might be too soon, the Federal Reserve will probably run out of excuses not to raise rates in December.