The Fed stays the course

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC or Fed) left monetary policy unchanged at its March 20 meeting but continued to signal that it is likely to cut interest rates three times in 2024. Some market participants had begun to worry that the Fed would push back plans to ease policy because January and February inflation data came in a bit higher than expected. Although the latest inflation data indeed support keeping policy tight for two or three more months, they do not fundamentally change the fact that inflation dropped substantially last year and is likely to step down a bit more over the…