Fed Expected to Keep Interest Rates on Hold this Week

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at its policy meeting this week, following three successive cuts at the end of 2025.

The central bank cut rates three times last fall to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.

All eyes will be on how long officials signal they plan to keep rates unchanged, Jennifer Schonberger reported for Yahoo Finance.

“My expectation is they’re signaling a pause,” Esther George, former president of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, said in an interview. “I have a feeling they’re going to hold for a while.”

In recent weeks, several prominent Fed officials, including New York Fed President John Williams and Fed Governor Michael Barr, have used the phrase “policy is in a good place.”

“That’s the signal to say this gives us flexibility to move either direction,” George said.

“We’re not going to say we’re on a preset course; we’re just going to go meeting by meeting.”

The central bank cut rates three times last fall to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, within estimates of a neutral stance designed to neither spur nor slow economic growth.

Wilmer Stith, senior bond portfolio manager for Wilmington Trust, said he does not expect the Fed to box itself into a prolonged pause, anticipating that Fed Chair Jerome Powell will emphasize flexibility.