Fed Not Likely to Lower Rates Amid Disappointing Economic Growth, Says Economist

When the Federal Open Market Committee meets on March 20, it is likely to issue a decision cognizant of the disappointing pace of economic recovery

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies before the House Committee on Financial Services in Washington, on June 23, 2022. Win McNamee/Getty Images

The persistence of inflationary pressures during the administration of President Joe Biden leaves the Federal Reserve with little choice but to raise interest rates or keep them at their current level at its Wednesday rate meeting, if Fed policymakers do not want Americans’ severe economic woes to get even worse.

That’s the view of Ivan Pongracic, a professor in the economics department of Hillsdale College in Michigan, who said he has seen only limited progress toward the Fed’s announced goal of a 2 percent inflation target.