BofA Global Research announced on Monday that it expects the US Federal Reserve (FED) to make four interest rate cuts of 25 basis points, starting in March next year.
The bank increased its total interest rate cut forecast in 2023 to 100 basis points from the previous estimate of 75 basis points. According to BofA analysts, the FED is expected to cut interest rates in March, June, September and December.
In addition, BofA raised its US economic growth forecast for next year by 0.6 points, predicting that average quarterly growth will be 1.2%. This optimistic outlook is mainly due to strong consumer spending.
“Incoming data signals that the US economy can enjoy both moderate growth and disinflation at the same time,” said Michael Gapen, BofA's US economist.
Gapen added that the FED's dovish stance at its December policy meeting led to an earlier-than-expected timing for the central bank's first interest rate cut.
Last week, many brokerage firms on Wall Street revised their expectations regarding the timing of the first interest rate cut. This change in forecasts came after FED President Jerome Powell stated that the historic tightening of monetary policy, which started in March 2022, would be stopped in a possible manner.
*This is not investment advice.