U.S. Fed keeps interest rates steady while saying March rate cut is not likely

美, 기준금리 ~% 4연속 동결 금리인하 시점 관심 집중 We start in the U.S. where the Federal Reserve has once again held its key interest rates steady. But the market’s much-anticipated rate cut --possibly in March --seems rather unlikely as the U.S. central bank says more data is needed before finally cutting the rates. Our economics correspondent Shin Ha-young starts us off. After the U.S. Federal Reserve’s first two-day meeting of this year, the FOMC on Wednesday announced a fourth consecutive rate freeze. With this latest decision, the benchmark interest rates in the U.S. remain in the 5-point-2-5 percent to 5-point-5 percent range. Since before the meeting, the market’s focus has been on the timing of rate cuts from the Fed. There have been rising expectations of a March rate cut after the Fed last month hinted at three possible rate cuts in 2024. However, Fed chairman Jerome Powell expressed doubts about a cut next month, saying it’s less likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence about inflation which would allow rates to be cut by the time of the March meeting. “It’s not that the six month data isn’t low enough. It is. It’s just a question of can we take that with confidence that we’re moving sustainably to 2%.“ The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index, which excludes food and energy, for last month, rose 2-point-9 percent from the year before. This is the first time it has dropped to a 2 percent level since March 2021. The Fed chairman also said there is more concern about the risk of inflation staying above 2 percent than there is for major inflation spikes. One expert says it’s because of the sacrifice needed to achieve the Fed’s inflation target. “Chairman Powell has always said that their goal is 2 percent inflation, not inflation around 2 percent, but 2 percent on the dot. So there has been a lot of concern that getting from the 3 percent to 2 percent will be very difficult and it will involve a lot of sacrifice.“ Meanwhile, the latest Fed rate freeze means the key interest rate gap between South Korea and the U.S. remains at 2 percentage points. “BOK will have to delay the rate cuts if they were planning to cut the rates during the first half of the year. But the good thing is that Chairman Powell is giving solid signals that he will lower the rates sometime this year unless inflation goes back up.“ During Thursday’s emergency macroeconomic meeting in South Korea, Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said that there is growing uncertainty about the timing of rate cuts in in other countries, adding that the government will remain vigilant regarding the situation. Shin Ha-young, Arirang News. #US_economy #interestrates #Federal_Reserve #Jerome_Powell #stock_market #FOMC #미국경제 #연방준비제도이사회 #금리 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2024-02-01, 12:00 (KST)