Fed FOMC voting members new line-up in the New Year, the policy stance is expected to be more dovish and hawkish polarisation

The Federal Reserve's interest rate-setting committee will soon have a new lineup, while renewed inflation concerns are complicating the central bank's decision-making. The Fed cut its benchmark policy rate by 25 basis points earlier this month and hinted at only two rate cuts in 2025. Chairman Jerome Powell made it clear that the central bank is entering a new phase, and that the pace of future rate cuts will likely be more gradual and depend on whether inflation moves lower. In addition to the seven Fed governors and the president of the New York Fed, the presidents of the 11 regional Federal Reserve Banks will also take turns voting on interest rate decisions at the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Agencies expect the FOMC to be more divided in 2025. An assessment of the committee's voting members along the hawkish-dovish spectrum finds that the divergence of opinion among FOMC voting members will intensify next year, with views dispersed at both ends of the spectrum and less concentrated in the middle.