AP Photo/Susan Walsh
- The Federal Reserve is expected to hold borrowing costs steady Wednesday.
- Despite pressure from the White House, economists say a rate cut isn’t likely to happen anytime soon.
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave borrowing costs unchanged at the end of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.
Officials have signaled they would hold interest rates steady for the rest of the year. They last voted to increase the benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point in December, bringing it to a range of 2.25% and 2.5%.
While the economy expanded far faster than expected in the first quarter, that pace of growth is expected to moderate in the coming months as activity slows in the US and elsewhere.
In a press conference shortly after the 2 p.m. announcement, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is likely to be asked about consumer prices. Inflation levels have continued to come in well below the central bank’s target of 2%.
Wednesday’s decision is unlikely to please President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly lambasted the Federal Reserve for its policy decisions. He and White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow have been calling for a rate cut in recent days, arguing ahead of the 2020 elections that current interest rate levels hurt growth.
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Source: Business Insider – gheeb@businessinsider.com (Gina Heeb)