Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh wants to lower interest rates. Fed officials signaled Wednesday that it may be even harder than expected for him to make that happen, should he be confirmed into that job any time soon.
Fed officials raised their predictions for the path of inflation and interest rates in data the central bank released Wednesday. That was largely expected given the spike in oil prices due to the Iran war. But Chair Jerome Powell said oil wasn’t the only factor his colleagues were considering.
Higher forecasts for inflation are also “a reflection of the slow progress we’ve seen on tariffs,” Powell said.
The Fed publishes a survey of its top officials’ expectations for interest rates and the economy in a document known as the Summary of Economic Projections. The SEP released Wednesday showed the median official’s expectation for a closely watched measure of inflation, known as core personal consumption expenditure inflation, rising from 2.5% for 2026 in December to 2.7% for the year as of March.
Meanwhile the SEP showed several Fed officials raising their expectations for interest rates in the so-called dot plot. It shows where the Fed’s members believe interest rates will go. The March dot plot showed several Fed officials ruling out the possibility of multiple cuts this year.
