PHOTO: AFP

AFP, Washington

The US Federal Reserve voted Wednesday to leave interest rates unchanged for the fourth straight meeting, while indicating it was moving toward future cuts -- but probably not before May at the earliest.

The Fed confirmed in a statement that it was holding its benchmark lending rate steady at its 23-year high, between 5.25 and 5.50 percent.

The central bank has a dual mandate to keep both inflation and the unemployment rate low, and has been heavily focused at recent meetings on reining in inflation, with an eye on its long-term target of two percent.

On Wednesday, it said the “risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are moving into better balance,” suggesting a greater emphasis on jobs going forward.

But it added that the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is unlikely to start cutting interest rates “until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably” toward two percent.

“We believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this tightening cycle,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters at a press conference after the rate decision.

He added that ‘almost everyone’ on the 19-person FOMC was in favor of a cut in 2024, but that a move as soon as the next meeting in March was unlikely.

“I don’t think it’s likely that the committee will reach a level of confidence by the time of the March meeting to identify March as the time to cut,” he said.

Powell’s remarks “reinforce our long-standing view that the Fed will start cutting rates in May,” EY chief economist Gregory Daco wrote in an investor note after the press conference.

Stocks on Wall Street closed down sharply on Wednesday as traders digested the news.- Strong data -

Following a post-pandemic surge in inflation, fueled further by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Fed rapidly hiked interest rates to slow rising prices -- with surprising success.

The US central bank’s favored inflation measure, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, has now fallen below an annual rate of 3.0 percent, while economic growth remained robust at 2.5 percent in 2023 and unemployment stayed close to historic lows.