Central bank holds policy rate in 5.255.50 range
Officials see 75 basis points of cuts next year
Fed39;s 39;soft landing39; scenario still on the table

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 Reuters The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and U.S. central bank chief Jerome Powell said the historic tightening of monetary policy is likely over as inflation falls faster than expected and with a discussion of cuts in borrowing costs coming into view.

People are not writing down rate hikes in their latest economic projections, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference following the end of the central bank39;s final policy meeting of the year.

That39;s us thinking we39;ve done enough, he said, adding that rate increases were not the base case anymore.

The Fed is done! exclaimed Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG US, and if economic data continues evolving as it has, with inflation cooling alongside an economy that seems poised to slow but not crash, then the Fed will be cutting sooner rather than later in the year.

Indeed, the shift in outlook was stark, with 17 of 19 Fed policymakers seeing rates lower by the end of 2024, and none seeing them higher. A measure of policymakers39; perceptions of risks facing the economy also moved closer to balance, a point Powell alluded to when he said the central bank was now at the point where both mandates are important, with officials sensitive to the risk of overdoing it and pushing the economy into a faster than…