After Bidenflation sent our economy into a state of chaos, the Federal Reserve was working around the clock to prevent a recession from breaking out. With 15 months of consistent rate hikes, they’ve managed to keep inflation under control.

This week on Wednesday though, for the first time in over a year, the interest rates have remained steady. The tightening campaign was put on hold in order to gauge the effects of the action that was taken.

This decision caused interest rates to stay between 5% and 5.25%. This is still the highest they’ve been since 2007; although policymakers did argue that further rate hikes later in the year aren’t out of the question.

With the target range being steady for the first time in so long, it will give the committee access to additional information regarding the economy and the further implications rate hikes may have.

However, this may not last for long. The majority of Fed officials expect a rate hike of 5.6% by the end of the year, meaning we’ll probably see another two quarter-point increases by then.

Previously, a peak rate of 5.1% was projected by the Central Bank, which only goes to show we’ve got a lot more work to do until we’ve got inflation under control. Of the 18 policymakers, a whopping 12 believe the two rate hikes are absolutely necessary.

Upon the reveal of these hawkish projections for the future, the stock market entered a slump, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropping by an entire 250 points.

On the other hand, Nasdaq and the S&P have managed to stay above the water, with the former actually gaining 53 points instead.

Fed chairman Jerome Powell stated there is no certainty about the incoming rate hikes in the following months. He also said a decision will be made during a live meeting, giving Americans some direct insight into what’s to come.

Currently, the forecast suggests interest rates will stay up until 2024 rolls around.

Even then, the US central bank is expected to cut them down to around 4.6%, which is a response to the consumer price index rising by 4% year-to-year last month.

This makes it the smallest increase in the last two years. It also gives us some hope in terms of dealing with this high-inflation climate; although we’re still a long way from the Federal Reserve’s 2% target rate.

Unfortunately, inflation seems to be retreating at a slower pace. Food and energy costs have risen by 0.4% and 5.4% annually, caused by other geopolitical events around the globe.