The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday it would lower interest rates two more times this year after it slashed its benchmark federal funds rate by 50 basis points to a range of 4.75%-5.0% at the conclusion of its meeting on Wednesday.
Fed officials see the fed funds rate coming down to 4.4% in 2024. That suggests the Fed will cut rates by an additional 0.50% later this year. Outside of Wednesday’s jumbo 50 basis point cut, the Fed has moved in 25 basis point increments over the last year or so, indicating the central bank expects to cut interest rates two more times in 2024. The previous June projection had interest rates peaking at 5.1%.
Along with its policy announcement, the Fed released updated economic forecasts in its Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), including its “dot plot,” which maps out policymakers’ expectations for where interest rates could be headed in the future.
In total, 17 officials predicted further easing this…
