Puli chief economist Blerina Urui expects Federal Reserve Chairman Powell to avoid deviating too much from market expectations and current market pricing at the December Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and press conference. His baseline prediction is that the FOMC will cut interest rates by 25 basis points this week, 50 basis points in 2025, with the upper limit of the final target range at 4.0%. This expectation is fully reflected in market pricing and is well understood by the market. The bank expects Powell to suggest a slower pace of rate cuts next year and for the Fed to hold steady in January. The risk is that if the economy remains strong, inflation cooling process stalls, or price pressures intensify in the first quarter of 2025, the Fed may maintain rates unchanged for a longer period. This is not the bank's baseline prediction, but it considers this scenario more likely than a significant rate cut by the Fed next year.