Anxious Fed set for historic measure to try to curb inflation – By Zachary Halaschak (Washington Examiner) / April 28, 2022
The Federal Reserve is set to take its most aggressive action in decades to rein in inflation when it meets this week — a move that would have implications for the entire economy.
The Federal Open Market Committee, which dictates the country’s monetary policy and is led by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, is expected to hike its interest rate target by half a percentage point in order to drive down inflation when it meets next Tuesday and Wednesday.
A half-point increase, also known as a 50-basis-point hike, is akin to conducting two interest rate hikes at once, given that the federal funds rate is typically moved up by a quarter of a percentage point at a time. If the Fed follows through on the more aggressive hike, it would be the first time such an action has been taken in more than two decades.
Investors place the likelihood of the more aggressive rate hike occurring at more than 96%, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool, which calculates the probability using Fed fund futures contract prices. Most investors are also predicting two more half-point hikes in June and July.
