Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi thinks the Federal Reserve is unlikely to raise interest rates at its March meeting as there is a «boatload of uncertainty» around the recent bank failures.
The financial turmoil of the past few days will certainly affect monetary policy decision making when the Federal Open Market Committee meets next week, he added. «I think they're focused on the bank failures that roiled the banking system and markets over the last couple of days,» Zandi told CNBC's «Street Signs Asia» on Wednesday. «There's a boatload of uncertainty here,» as a result the Fed will want to be cautious, he added. «I think they're going… [to] decide not to raise interest rates at the meeting next week.» His comments follow U.S.
regulators shutting down Silicon Valley Bank on Friday and taking control of its deposits in the largest U.S. banking failure since the 2008 financial crisis — and the second-largest ever.
On Sunday, policymakers scrambled to backstop depositors at both SVB and Signature Bank, which was also shuttered, to stem the panic around contagion risks.
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