The Federal Reserve is preparing to announce interest rates.. What do the markets expect?
Global markets are awaiting the Federal Reserve meeting scheduled for March 17 and 18 to decide interest rates, at a time when the central bank is facing a group of complex and conflicting factors that affect The American and global economy. Market expectations indicate an almost non-existent possibility of reducing Interest rates At this meeting, or at any other meeting in the near future, while futures prices indicate that policymakers will not consider monetary easing before at least September, and perhaps October, and even then, it will not exceed a single cut this year. Regarding the decision expected on Wednesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell must deal with the fallout from the Iran war, fears of rising inflation, and mixed indicators from the labor market. This combination of factors is likely to keep the The Federal Reserve maintained its monetary policy unchanged, keeping the key interest rate within the target range between 3.5% and 3.75%. Updates to economic forecasts and interest rate forecasts are not expected to show material changes. Pei Chen Lin, chief investment strategist at Russell Investments, said: "The decision is almost certain – to fix the interest rate at the March meeting. But any hints Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell might make about the future path of interest rates will be crucial". He added: "Overall, the US economy remains in a strong position. This means that the probability of a cut in US interest rates may be very high". In this situation, all eyes will turn to Powell’s subsequent conference to announce interest rates, especially since this meeting may be Powell’s penultimate meeting as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, so markets are expected to follow Powell’s statements with great caution.
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