The Fed won’t lower rates like Trump wants because it sees ‘meaningful’ inflation spike later this year

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell (Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

• The Federal Reserve is not cutting interest rates yet because there is a possible inflation spike on the horizon. Until the central bank can see exactly how it will play out, interest rates will remain where they are, chair Jerome Powell said. Just hours before Powell’s comments, President Donald Trump again berated his decision to hold steady on interest rates.

The Federal Reserve has not yet cut interest rates because economic forecasts predict a “meaningful increase in inflation over the course of this year,” chair Jerome Powell said during a congressional hearing on Tuesday.