The US Federal Reserve System has decided for the third time in a row to leave the base interest rate at 5.25-5.5%, as reported in the official message of the department. This decision was made unanimously by the members of the Fed's Board of Governors. The Fed statement notes that compared with the third quarter of 2023, the growth of economic activity has decreased, inflation, although it has decreased, remains at a high level (3.1%), and the unemployment rate is low. At the same time, the US banking system is considered reliable and stable. The Fed expressed concern about the possible consequences of tightening credit and financial conditions for households and businesses, but acknowledged that the scale of these consequences remains unclear. The Fed Committee also confirmed its signal of a possible tightening of monetary policy in order to achieve inflation at 2%. He will continue to evaluate various factors, including the labor market, inflation expectations, and financial developments, to make future monetary policy decisions. The Fed also lowered its US inflation forecast for 2023 from 3.3% to 2.8% and changed its forecast for 2024 from 2.5% to 2.4%. The forecast for economic growth for 2023 was raised from 2.1% to 2.6%, but lowered for 2024 from 1.5% to 1.4%. The Fed's median forecasts suggest that the base interest rate will be 4.6% by the end of 2024 and 3.6% by the end of 2025. In September, these figures were expected to be 5.1% and 3.9%, respectively.
