Economists warn that the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates at all this year

The Federal Reserve paused interest rate cuts at its January meeting, and it remains to be seen when or if they will resume, especially as markets wait to see how the Trump administration's tariff and immigration policies will play out. Daniel Doderer, economist and head of research at Flack Global Metals, said: "I think the Fed is now in a very good position to do nothing for the time being. We are moving from a labour market where supply and demand are balanced to a market where there may be supply constraints and demand is unchanged or even higher, which bodes well for a Fed rate cut. So our internal expectation is that the Fed will not cut rates this year. But the probability of a Fed rate cut is slightly higher compared to the probability of a rate hike."