Fed increases interest rates to highest level in 16 years.

The Fed Raises Interest Rates, Signals Possible Pause

The Federal Reserve made a unanimous decision to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday. This marks the Fed’s tenth consecutive increase since March 2022, making the new interest rates the highest since 2007. However, the Fed also signaled that it may pause further increases to assess recent bank failures, wait on the resolution of a political standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling, and monitor the course of inflation.

A More Qualified Statement

The accompanying policy statement dropped language saying that the Fed still “anticipates that some additional policy firming may be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2% over time.” In its place, the Fed inserted a more qualified statement, reminiscent of language used when it halted rate hikes in 2006. This statement says that “in determining the extent to which additional policy firming may be appropriate,” officials will study how the economy, inflation, and financial markets behave in the coming weeks and months.

Risks and Caution

The recent failures of several U.S. banks and a debt limit standoff between Republicans in Congress and Democratic President Joe Biden have added to the Fed’s sense of caution about trying to tighten financial conditions further. Economic growth remains modest, but “recent developments are likely to result in tighter credit conditions for households and businesses and to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation,” the Fed said.

Press Conference

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT) to elaborate on the outcome of the latest two-day policy meeting.

Key Takeaways:

• The Fed raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, marking its tenth consecutive increase since March 2022.
• The new interest rates are the highest since 2007.
• The Fed signaled it may pause further increases to assess recent bank failures, wait on the resolution of a political standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling, and monitor the course of inflation.
• The accompanying policy statement dropped language saying that the Fed still “anticipates that some additional policy firming may be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2% over time.”
• The Fed inserted a more qualified statement, reminiscent of language used when it halted rate hikes in 2006, which says that “in determining the extent to which additional policy firming may be appropriate,” officials will study how the economy, inflation, and financial markets behave in the coming weeks and months.
• The recent failures of several U.S. banks and a debt limit standoff between Republicans in Congress and Democratic President Joe Biden have added to the Fed’s sense of caution about trying to tighten financial conditions further.
• Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT) to elaborate on the outcome of the latest two-day policy meeting.