The U.S. Fed is going to FOMC...Rates cut by 0.25%p at the end of the year

[Anchor]
The U.S. Federal Reserve has entered its last meeting of the year of the FOMC, or Federal Open Market Committee, which decides monetary policy.

As the U.S. economy maintains solid growth centered on consumption, the possibility of a quarter-percentage-point cut in the benchmark interest rate is weighed down.

I'm correspondent Lee Seung-yoon from New York.

[Reporter]
U.S. retail sales rose 0.7% month-on-month in November, beating market expectations.

Solid economic growth centered on consumption, the backbone of the U.S. economy, has been confirmed.

As things stand, cutting interest rates could lower financing costs for businesses and consumers, supporting economic growth.

As a result, the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.25%p, as expected, at the FOMC's last meeting of the year when it decides monetary policy.

The benchmark interest rate will come down to 4.25% to 4.5%, with the market paying attention to the possibility of a rate cut slowing down next year, considering the recent price trends that have exceeded expectations.

[Jerome Powell/U.S. Federal Reserve Chair (last month, 16): The U.S. economy is not sending any signal that it needs to hurry to cut interest rates]

The extent of the Fed's rate cut is expected to be limited as Trump's second round of tariff bombs and immigrant deportation policies are feared to trigger inflation.

According to a recent survey of 47 U.S. economists, the majority forecast the Fed's benchmark interest rate to be more than 3.5% at the end of next year.

That's in contrast to the results of a September survey, which mostly predicted it would fall below 3.5%.

For now, monetary policy, which has been eased in most advanced countries, including the United States, this year, is expected to end with a rate cut this week.

If interest rates fall, it will lead to a weak dollar and increased money supply, and investment capacity will increase, leading to active Bitcoin buying around the New York Stock Exchange here.

I'm YTN's Lee Seungyoon from New York.