{"id":636723,"date":"2026-04-29T16:21:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:21:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/636723\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T16:21:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T16:21:14","slug":"u-s-fed-likely-to-hold-rates-steady-at-what-may-be-powells-last-meeting-as-chair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/636723\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Fed likely to hold rates steady at what may be Powell\u2019s last meeting as Chair"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference after the central bank’s March 18 decision.Kevin Lamarque\/Reuters<\/p>\n

The Federal Reserve<\/a> is expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday as officials debate whether to flag risks of rising inflation in a policy statement issued after what may be Jerome Powell\u2019s final meeting as head of the U.S. central bank. <\/p>\n

With oil prices high and rising again due to the U.S.-led war with Iran, policy-makers ahead of the Fed\u2019s latest two-day session said they were increasingly concerned that elevated energy costs could evolve from a one-off shock into higher underlying inflation, with interest rates needing to stay on hold longer than expected or, in the extreme, to move up. Stalemated negotiations and the continued closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz have pushed the global benchmark oil price again above US$110 a barrel compared to about US$70 before the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran started on Feb. 28. <\/p>\n

The Fed\u2019s preferred measure of inflation is about a percentage point above the central bank\u2019s 2-per-cent target, and the March numbers due to be issued later this week are expected to rise even higher. Traders see little chance the Fed will lower rates before the middle of next year, in effect a bet against incoming Fed leader Kevin Warsh\u2019s ability to convince his colleagues that rising U.S. productivity will translate into lower inflation and allow for looser monetary policy. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe news since the last meeting in March \u2013 better labour market data but no change in disappointingly high inflation data \u2013 may shade the discussion a bit more hawkish,\u201d but not so much that the Fed will hint at the possible need for rate hikes in its statement, said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan. Surprisingly strong job growth in March pushed the unemployment rate lower to 4.3 per cent.<\/p>\n

Powell era coming to an end<\/p>\n

The Fed\u2019s interest rate decision and new policy statement will be released at 2 p.m. ET. Powell is scheduled to hold a press conference half an hour later.<\/p>\n

Along with elaborating on the results of the meeting and answering questions about the economic outlook, Powell may well say more about his plans now that Warsh is expected to be confirmed as Fed chief by the Senate in time for the central bank\u2019s June 16-17 meeting. <\/p>\n

Warsh\u2019s nomination began moving forward last week after the U.S. Department of Justice dropped a criminal investigation into a Fed building project that key Republican senators saw as a groundless attack on Powell and the central bank\u2019s independence. The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote on Wednesday to recommend Warsh be confirmed by the full Republican-controlled Senate.<\/p>\n

Trump clears hurdle to install Warsh as U.S. Fed chair after senator drops opposition<\/a><\/p>\n

Powell\u2019s tenure as Fed chief ends on May 15, but his separate term as a member of the central bank\u2019s Washington-based Board of Governors extends to January, 2028. At a press conference in March, Powell said he would not leave the board \u201cuntil the investigation is well and truly over,\u201d but left open whether he might continue serving as a governor even if the probe was ended.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not made that decision yet. And I will make that decision based on what I think is best for the institution and for the people we serve,\u201d Powell said at the time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell holds a press conference after the central bank’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-636723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}