CoinVoice has recently learned that at 3 a.m. Beijing time on Thursday, the Federal Reserve will announce its last interest rate decision of the year. According to futures contracts, the market generally expects the Federal Reserve to lower the benchmark interest rate by another 25 basis points this week. This move will bring the federal funds rate to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5%, which is a full percentage point lower than when rate cuts began in September.
Vincent Reinhart, chief economist at BNY Mellon and former director of the Federal Reserve's monetary affairs division, believes, 'Clearly, the Federal Reserve is in a bind. For officials, unless they are very certain about what political and economic changes will occur, they really cannot change their forecasts to respond to these changes. At the press conference, the most concern is about the idea of skipping a rate cut. So I think, in this respect, it will be a hawkish cut. (Only) as (Trump's) policies actually come into play, the Federal Reserve may further update its forecasts.' (Jinshi) [Original link]