Harvard Professor: US Fed ‘Pause’ In June Meet; But There’s A Catch

Crypto Market News: While the widespread market sentiment is around the expectation that the US Federal Reserve will pause the interest rate hike spree in the June 2023 meeting, experts are predicting that the central bank may not just be done with its monetary policy tightening. Recently, Standard Chartered bank CEO Bill Winters said the US Fed could temporarily pause the rate hikes. However, he warned that the central bank may not just be finished with the task of monetary tightening yet.

Also Read: Single Whale Moves 20 Trillion Shiba Inu (SHIB) and 3.4 Billion Dogecoin (DOGE)

Meanwhile, the market appears to be largely optimistic about a rate hike pause in the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the target rate probabilities for the June 14 FOMC meeting shows a 73% likelihood of the Fed pause at the current target rate of 500 to 525 bps.

Rate Hike Pause Not Sustainable: Harvard Professor

Jason Furman, Professor of Practice at Harvard, believes that the underlying strength in the US economy is too strong currently to affect a continuous rate hike pause. He explained that inflation hardly made any progress despite the aggressive rate hikes in recent months. Historically, it has not been easy to bring down the inflation, he added, speaking to CNBC.

“I think the Fed’s going to pause at the next meeting. If you ask me if the Fed’s going to make a move in the next four months, I think that move is a rate hike and not a cut. Inflation has barely made any progress. There’s a lot of strength in this economy.”

Meanwhile, a Fed rate hike pause as per market expectation could be bullish for Bitcoin price as the news could lead to a rise in the S&P 500 Index value. In the instance of further rate hike too in the next Fed meeting, it could be a positive outcome for the crypto market as further tightening could trigger market movement towards risky assets like Bitcoin.

Also Read: Are Whales Ready To Rack Up XRP As Ripple Bags Another Win?