Central Banks
Fed Officials Eye Key Inflation Metric Hours Before Rate Decision
- Key inflation data during two-day meeting to sway projections
- Fed will keep benchmark steady for a seventh straight meeting
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Federal Reserve officials may not be ready to finalize closely watched projections for interest rates until the publication of a key report on consumer prices on the final day of their two-day policy meeting.
Disappointing inflation data since the projections were last updated in March are almost certain to prompt a downgrade to the number of rate cuts envisioned for this year. But the May consumer price index reading, out Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. New York time, will probably help determine how many reductions get taken out of the central bank’s “dot plot” displaying the expected rate path.