Fed likely to hike interest rates by 75 basis points in November meeting

Federal Reserve officials are working on introducing another 75 basis point rate hike at the upcoming meeting from Nov. 1-2, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

In the last three meetings, mostly held in September, the Fed has hiked the benchmark for federal-funds rate by 75 basis points on each occasion. Currently, the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate is between 3% and 3.25%, but officials expect it to cross 4% by the end of the year.

By the next meeting, there are pointers that the rate could go up to about 4.40% before the end of 2022. After that, this could further surge to about 4.60% next year. 

The commencement of the increment in June represents the first time the Fed raised rates by 75 basis points since 1994. The Fed is using the hike in interest rates to combat the prevailing inflation as they target to bring it back to 2%. 

“To get the inflation rate back to 2 percent, job losses could land well above 5.3 million and result in an unemployment rate of 6.7 percent at the upper end of the range,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM US, LLP

Division among Fed officials on future increment

The Fed officials are divided on future increases in the rates. Loretta Mester, president of the Cleveland Federal Reserve, has indicated she would favor 75 basis point rate increases at both of the Fed’s upcoming meetings to address inflation.

However, the officials are willing to minimize the implications of initiating an unusual sudden slowdown. On the other side, some are against this position as they feel the considerations are coming too soon. In their opinion, those against the reduction in rates feel that high inflation is eating deep into the economy.

The Governor of the Federal Reserve Christopher Waller has maintained a balanced position among the divided officials. In a speech early this month, the Governor said, “We’ll have a very thoughtful discussion about the pace of tightening at our next meeting.”

At the moment, some are indicating a possible slowdown in the flying rates at the beginning of 2023.