INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Jerome Powell, the 16th chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of the US.3 min read Last Updated : Sep 18 2024 | 11:53 PM IST
The Federal
Reserve cut interest rates by half of a percentage point on Wednesday, kicking off what is expected to be a steady easing of monetary policy
with a larger-than-usual reduction in borrowing costs that followed growing unease about the health of the job market.
"The committee has
gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and
inflation goals are roughly in balance," policymakers on the U.S
central bank's rate-setting committee said in their latest statement, which drew a dissent from Governor Michelle Bowman who favored only a
reflects a slight upgrade, from 2.8% to 2.9%, in the longer-run federal funds rate, considered a "neutral" stance that neither encourages
adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee's goals," with
EDT (1830 GMT) to discuss the policy decision and the economic outlook
The Fed's policy meeting this week was its last before voters go to the polls in what is expected to be a close U.S
presidential election on Nov
account for the fast decline in inflation since last year, or address concerns among some officials that the U.S
half a percentage point above that, and the new economic projections now show the annual rate of increase in the personal consumption
this year at 4.4%, higher than the current 4.2%, and remaining there through 2025.
Economic growth is seen at 2.1% through 2024 and 2% next
year, the same as in the last round of projections issued in June.
The Fed had held its policy rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range since July of
2023 as inflation fell from a 40-year high to a level that is now approaching the central bank's target.First Published: Sep 18 2024 | 11:53
