The Federal Reserve concluded earlier this week its first meeting of 2024, voting to maintain its policy settings unchanged. The FOMC also abandoned its tightening bias, but indicated it will not rush to cut borrowing costs. Chairman Powell went a step further by acknowledging that officials may not yet be confident enough to remove restriction at their next gathering.
Although the possibility of a rate cut in March has diminished, the situation could change again if incoming information shows that activity is starting roll over. In the grand scheme of things, a weaker economy could prompt policymakers to reconsider their stance; after all, data dependency has been the guiding principle for the central bank recently.
