The US Federal Reserve is well-positioned to “wait and see” how the economy evolves, and decide on the monetary policy on a meeting-to-meeting basis, Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday.
Powell’s statement, at a press briefing, came shortly after the Fed slashed the benchmark lending rates for a third consecutive time, lowering it to 3.5%-3.75% target range.
Powell, whose term is set to end in May 2026, dropped at maintaining status quo at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled on Jan. 27-28.
The Fed is now “within a range of plausible estimates of neutral, and leave us well-positioned to determine the extent and timing of additional adjustments” to rates, Powell said, indicating that FOMC may hit pause on further cuts in the next meeting during January 27-28.
The next rate decision would also depend on a slew of economic data, which are yet to be released due to the federal government shutdown in October and early November. This includes the job and inflation data for November, which is scheduled to be out next week.
There will be a “great deal of data” between now and the January meeting, Powell said, adding that this data will factor into their thinking.
