WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve is set to leave its secret interest rate thesame Wednesday as it looksfor to guide the U.S. economy towards a “soft landing” of cooling inflation without triggering a deep economiccrisis.
Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed authorities haveactually made clear that they’re now likely to relocation more slowly and verycarefully towards their objective of 2% yearly inflation. Their more deliberative technique follows the 11 rate walkings they released start in March 2022, which significantly raised loaning expenses for customers and organizations.
Yet with inflation pressures still underlying the economy, Powell won’t be stating success on Wednesday, when the Fed’s mostcurrent policy conference ends. The attention of financiers and financialexperts will rather focus on what signals the Fed might sendout about its mostlikely next actions.
The clearest signal will mostlikely come from the Fed’s 19-member interest-rate committee in the batch of financial projections its members problem each quarter. The upgraded forecasts are mostlikely to program that the policymakers anticipate to raise their standard rate assoonas more this year. That rate now stands at approximately 5.4%, its greatest point in 22 years.
And those forecasts will mostlikely likewise program that the Fed imagines less interest rate cuts next year than it did in June, when it forecasted 3 rate decreases in2024 Even as the main bank is winding down its rate walkings, Powell and other Fed authorities have stated their secret rate might stay at its peak well into next year. Analysts anticipate the Fed’s projections Wednesday to program simply one or 2 rate cuts in 2024.
Further hints about the future course of the Fed’s interest rate policy might emerge at a news conference Powell will hol