At a meeting on March 20th, 2019, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, announced that there are no rate hikes planned for 2019.

This announcement came as a shock to many. Just a few months ago, at the FED’s final meeting of 2018, they approved a last minute rate hike for the year, and planned two additional rate increases for 2019. President Trump heavily scrutinized the Federal Reserve Board after this meeting, calling the December rate hike “wrong-headed.”

Now, the FED is saying that it’s benchmark rate, which influences everything from credit cards to mortgages, will remain at it’s current rate, which can range from 2.25% to 2.5%. The central bank also mentioned that there would only be one rate hike in 2020, and none in 2021. Some speculate that this policy u-turn was influenced by the President’s scrutiny of the FED’s December meeting. However, when asked about this, the FED Chairman denied that pressure from the President had any influence on their decision to keep rates the same.

At the March 20th meeting, the FED also announced plans to stop shrinking their bond portfolio, which should help keep rates low over the long-run. They will begin executing this plan in May of this year.

Following the FED’s most recent meeting, the overall stock market made modest gains, suggesting that most Americans are happy with the announcements.