The Federal Reserve announced that it will end its aggressive pandemic-era stimulus sooner than expected. The central bank will speed up its tapering of bond purchases, bringing the monthly drawdown to $30 billion versus $15 billion announced last month. This would conclude the tapering process in March, opening the door for earlier interest rate hikes. Fed officials expect three quarter-point rate hikes in 2022 and further three rate increases in 2023. The Fed completed its two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on Dec. 15, which was described by market analysts as the most important meeting of the year. “In light of inflation developments and the further improvement in the labor market, the Committee decided to reduce the monthly pace of its net asset purchases by $20 billion for Treasury securities and $10 billion for agency mortgage-backed securities,” the FOMC statement read. “Beginning in January, the Committee will increase its holdings of Treasury securities …