Welcome to Investopedia's live blog of the Federal Reserve's March meeting. Here, we will bring you the latest news on the Fed's decision, explain what it means, and provide analysis.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell discussed the central bank’s decision to maintain its benchmark federal-funds rate at around 4.3% during a press conference following the Fed’s latest policy meeting.

After core PCE inflation readings in the first two months of 2025 were elevated, the median participant likely will mark up inflation projections across the forecast horizon. For 2025, the updated SEP will show core PCE inflation of 2.8% (vs. 2.5% in the December SEP), 2.4% for 2026 (vs. 2.2% prior), and 2.2% for 2027 (vs. 2.0% prior).

President Donald Trump was quick to disagree with the Federal Reserve’s policy decision Wednesday—he wants rate cuts.The Fed held interest rates steady before Trump reiterated his long-held view that the central bank should be lowering borrowing costs in a social media post late Wednesday.

Uncertainty spawned by President Trump’s tariffs prodded the Federal Reserve to predict a slower economy and higher inflation this year, complicating its decision on whether to cut interest rates any time soon.

Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, said that “further progress may be delayed” on inflation because of tariffs. Officials kept interest rates steady but signaled they may cut them twice this year. The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday for a second straight meeting,

The Fed’s slowness to catch the inflation surge that began during the pandemic has earned it scads of criticism. Is this time different?

Fresh off the Federal Reserve’s new economic projections showing officials expect higher inflation and slower growth this year, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday it’s his “base case” that any bump in price-growth due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs policy would prove transitory.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that inflation driven by President Donald Trump’s tariff agenda could make it more difficult to achieve the Fed’s goal of lowering inflation. Powell,