US Federal Funds Rate

US Federal Reserve chief Kevin Warsh will chair his first meeting of the central bank's rate-setting committee next week caught between a rock and a hard place. Inflation is at a three-year high but Warsh still faces unrelenting pressure from the White House to lower interest rates. The bank's 12-member Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will begin a two-day meeting on Tuesday and is widely expected to hold rates steady as the effects of US President Donald Trump's war on Iran course through the world's largest economy. Warsh, who ...

The Federal Reserve's June policy meeting will mark a closely watched milestone for financial markets as newly installed Chair Kevin Warsh presides over his first Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) gathering. The two-day meeting, scheduled for June 16-17, comes at a time when expectations for lower borrowing costs have largely evaporated amid persistent inflation pressures and a labour market that continues to show resilience. When President Donald Trump nominated Warsh to lead the central bank earlier this year, investors largely ...

Incoming Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said during his confirmation hearing that he wants “messier” interest-rate-setting meetings, where a “good family fight” can lead to better economic decisions. The table is now set. On Wednesday, three members of the Federal Open Market Committee dissented over language in the central bank’s policy statement that telegraphs a bias toward cutting interest rates. Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack, Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari, and Dallas Fed president Lorie Logan all preferred ...

The FOMC left the policy rate range of 3.5–3.75% unchanged along with balance sheet plans as universally expected. Guidance was mixed and tiptoed further yet toward a fully neutral if not hawkish bias that serves as an awkward segue into new leadership. A 55-minute press conference was well managed by Chair Powell with a lot of emphasis upon staying on the Board and defending Fed independence. All but the most emotionally vacuous couldn’t help but observe a degree of moroseness as Powell left the room for a final time as Chair. ...

The Federal Reserve System is the central bank of the United States. It performs five general functions to promote the effective operation of the U.S. economy and, more generally, the public interest. The Federal Reserve conducts the nation’s monetary policy to promote maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates in the U.S. economy; promotes the stability of the financial system and seeks to minimize and contain systemic risks through active monitoring and engagement in the U.S. and abroad; promotes the ...

In what could be Jerome Powell’s final meeting as Federal Reserve chair, he is expected to lead his fellow policymakers toward another cautious pause, with stubborn inflation and a resilient labor market leaving little room yet for interest rate cuts. The decision Wednesday will come against a backdrop of elevated energy prices and a central bank that has been above its 2% inflation target for five years at the same time that the labor market has been weak but not in distress. That’s not a recipe for easing, at least not yet. “On the ...

The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to leave its policy rate unchanged at this week’s meeting. The CME Group puts the odds that the FOMC will continue to target the federal funds rate within the 3.5 to 3.75 percent range at 99.5 percent. But the near certainty regarding this week’s decisions masks the growing problem Fed officials face. The rise in energy prices tied to the conflict with Iran is the sort of negative supply shock that makes monetary policy especially difficult. It puts upward pressure on inflation ...