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US Fed set to hold interest rates steady

Jan 29, 2025, 6:42am EST
North America
A Wall Street sign hangs in front of a US flag outside the New York Stock Exchange
Andrew Kelly/File Photo/Reuters
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The US Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady when it meets Wednesday, putting it in conflict with President Donald Trump, who has called for an easing of monetary policy.

Policymakers have lowered borrowing costs at each of their last three meetings, but traders are betting on a pause in rate cuts because inflation remains higher than the Fed’s target and the central bank wants more clarity on the impact of Trump’s policies.

In particular, it wants to better understand how an expected uptick in prices as a result of the president’s imposition of tariffs — a key Trump policy — will affect consumers’ inflation expectations, The Wall Street Journal’s chief economics correspondent, a noted Fed-watcher, wrote.

A chart showing average Federal Reserve funds rate by decade
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