Fed’s Bostic Sticks to Forecast for Single 2025 Rate Cut, Data Dependent

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on 1 August that he still anticipates the U.S. central bank will lower its benchmark rate once before the end of 2025, most likely by a quarter-percentage point. He stressed that the outlook remains "for today" and could shift if forthcoming economic data warrant a different course. Bostic added that he is "open to changing" his view should inflation or labor-market readings deviate materially from current trends, but for now sees no need either to raise borrowing costs or to project multiple cuts. He also indicated that this week’s employment figures are unlikely to alter the Federal Open Market Committee’s immediate policy decision. The remarks extend a stance Bostic has articulated since June, when he argued that policy was appropriately restrictive and that neither additional increases nor near-term reductions were justified. His measured approach places him between colleagues urging faster easing amid slowing growth and those advocating patience to ensure inflation returns sustainably to the Fed’s 2% target.