div > div.group > p:first-child"> The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it expects the benchmark rate to remain at 2.4 percent by the end of 2019, slashing its forecast from 2 hikes for the year to none.
The Fed said its benchmark rate will approach 2.6 percent in 2020 and remain at that level through 2021. Chairman Jerome Powell and the Fed have softened their approach toward interest rates after spooking markets late last year. In January, Powell said the case for raising interest rates had weakened and the committee vowed to take a more"patient" approach toward hiking rates.
Every quarter, Fed policymakers submit their projections for where they expect short-term interest rates to go. These submissions are visualized in a so-called dot plot, which shows how many members think rates will hit a given level over the short, medium and longer run.