The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced another pause in rate cuts, and warned of higher risks to its inflation and unemployment goals in a likely reference to US President Donald Trump’s tariff rollout.
Policymakers voted unanimously to hold the US central bank’s key lending rate at between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent, the Fed said in a statement.
Wall Street stocks closed higher following the Fed’s decision. Asian and European markets mostly rose yesterday ahead of weekend tariff talks between China and the US, with London boosted by reports that a “major trade deal” flagged by Trump was with the UK.
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The “hard” economic data published in recent weeks points toward an economic slowdown, while the unemployment rate has hovered close to historic lows and inflation has trended toward the Fed’s 2 percent target.
However, the “softer” economic survey data have pointed to a sharp drop-off in consumer confidence and growing expectations of higher inflation over the longer term — in contrast to the market’s inflation expectations, which remain relatively well-anchored.
Speaking to reporters in Washington after the US central bank’s decision was published, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said there was “a great deal of uncertainty” about where the Trump administration’s tariff policies would end up.
Trump’s moves have sent shivers through world markets, fueled fears of a global recession and speculation of a reordering of decades-old trading norms.
“If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they’re likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth and an increase in unemployment,” Powell said.
“The effects on inflation could be short-lived, reflecting a one-time shift in the price level,” he said, adding that it was “possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent.”
The Fed in its post-meeting statement said that “uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further,” and that the chances of higher unemployment and inflation had also risen.
Powell was also asked about public criticism leveled at him and the Fed by senior government officials — including the US president, who has called for him to cut rates to boost economic growth.
An upbeat Powell said Trump’s criticism did not affect the Fed’s job of tackling inflation and unemployment “at all.”
“We are always going to consider only the economic data, the outlook, the balance of risks, and that’s it,” he said.
Analysts do not expect the Fed to move until July at the earliest.
“Recent job data, including last Friday’s non-farm payroll, indicate solid momentum, allowing the Fed to maintain its current stance,” JPMorgan Asset Management chief Asia market strategist Tai Hui (許長泰) said. “With only one more set of job data expected before the June 17-18 meetings, the likelihood of a rate cut in June is low. The Fed aims to assert its independence amidst pressure from President Trump to reduce rates, requiring significant deterioration in hard data to justify a cut.”
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday met with some of the nation’s largest insurance companies as a skyrocketing New Taiwan dollar piles pressure on their hundreds of billions of dollars in US bond investments. The commission has asked some life insurance firms, among the biggest Asian holders of US debt, to discuss how the rapidly strengthening NT dollar has impacted their operations, people familiar with the matter said. The meeting took place as the NT dollar jumped as much as 5 percent yesterday, its biggest intraday gain in more than three decades. The local currency surged as exporters rushed to
PRESSURE EXPECTED: The appreciation of the NT dollar reflected expectations that Washington would press Taiwan to boost its currency against the US dollar, dealers said Taiwan’s export-oriented semiconductor and auto part manufacturers are expecting their margins to be affected by large foreign exchange losses as the New Taiwan dollar continued to appreciate sharply against the US dollar yesterday. Among major semiconductor manufacturers, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光), the world’s largest integrated circuit (IC) packaging and testing services provider, said that whenever the NT dollar rises NT$1 against the greenback, its gross margin is cut by about 1.5 percent. The NT dollar traded as strong as NT$29.59 per US dollar before trimming gains to close NT$0.919, or 2.96 percent, higher at NT$30.145 yesterday in Taipei trading