The US Federal Reserve have paused and not hiked rates.
Fed officials still see one more 0.25 rate hike increase in 2023, and expect to hold rates higher for longer in 2024, 2025 than in June projections
Markets had fully priced in no move at this meeting, which kept the fed funds rate in a targeted range between 5.25%-5.5%, the highest in some 22 years.
“We’re in a position to proceed carefully in determining the extent of additional policy firming,” Powell said.
However, he added that the central bank would like to see more progress in its fight against inflation.
“We want to see convincing evidence really that we have reached the appropriate level, and we’re seeing progress and we welcome that. But, you know, we need to see more progress before we’ll be willing to reach that conclusion,” he said.
Projections released in the Fed’s dot plot showed the likelihood of one more increase this year, then two cuts in 2024, two fewer than were indicated during the last update in June.
