Central Banks

Fed Seen Curbing Rate-Cutting Plans With Inflation Staying High

  • Economists expect central bank to reduce rates in September
  • Close call on whether Fed will signal one or two cuts in 2024

Pedestrians at the Lincoln Memorial during renovations in Washington.

Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg
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Economists are divided over how many interest-rate cuts Federal Reserve officials will signal for 2024 at their policy meeting next week, following a pop in recent inflation figures.

Policymakers are likely to back away from a longstanding forecast for three rate reductions this year, but it’s a close call on whether they will still pencil in two or not. A 41% plurality of economists expect the “dot plot” to show two cuts, while 41% expect the forecasts to show just one or no cuts at all, according to a Bloomberg survey.