The Fed: rate cuts are coming, but not in March

In Short

The almost immaculate deflation the Fed has been busy advertising since early 2023 looks increasingly likely, also thanks to the ongoing unwind of the legacy from COVID. The Fed will lower rates this year - the vast majority of FOMC members is in favour - but it is still unsure on the timing. The only certainty is that the first cut will not happen in March.

Highlights:

  • The Fed acknowledged the sharp improvement in the inflation outlook but stepped up the efforts to push back against expectation of rate cuts as early as in March. Six months of good inflation data are not yet enough for the FOMC to declare victory. 
  • The almost painless disinflation owes much to the unwinding of the bottlenecks caused by the pandemics. Once they are completely over it is not yet clear how the economy will behave, and this further suggest caution n loosening policy.
  • We still think that, by the May meeting the Fed will have enough evidence to start cutting rates, and we expect a total of 100bps loosening this year. The evolution of Quantitative tightening will be discussed in the next meeting. We see the balance sheet runoff to end around the turn of the year. 

     

Download the full publication below

The Fed: rate cuts are coming, but not in March

The latest views, research and investment insights from the experts of our ecosystem



Picture

© Generali Investments, all rights reserved. This website is provided by Generali Investments and is considered as a marketing communication and financial promotion related to the products and services of the following companies belonging to the Generali group: Generali Investments Partners S.p.A. Società di gestione del risparmio, Generali Insurance Asset Management S.p.A. Società di gestione del risparmio, Generali Investments Luxembourg S.A. and Generali Investments Holding S.p.A. (hereinafter jointly, Generali Investments). Moreover, the website may contain marketing communication and financial promotion of products and services of companies part of the multi-boutique platform coordinated by Generali Investments Partners S.p.A. Società di gestione del risparmio, and in particular of Infranity, Sycomore Asset Management, Aperture Investors LLC., Plenisfer Investments SGR, Lumyna Investments, Sosteneo Infrastructure Partners SGR, Axis Retail Partners S.p.A. and Generali Real Estate S.p.A. Società di Gestione del Risparmio