Most individuals who maintain tabs on the Federal Reserve would say it waited too lengthy to lift rates of interest when inflation took off in 2021. Now the US central financial institution is arguably falling behind the curve once more as inflation moderates and policymakers stall on bringing charges again down. The chance in ready is that top charges might lastly begin to inflict hurt on an economic system that’s to this point managed to defy widespread expectations for a major slowdown.The Fed is within the long-awaited final mile of its marketing campaign in opposition to the bout of pandemic-induced inflation that noticed policymakers’ most well-liked gauge speed up from 1.8% in February 2021 to a four-decade excessive of 5.6% in February 2022. Bloomberg Economics estimates information out later this month will present it had returned to 2.8% as of February 2024. That may put it greater than three-quarters of the best way again to the central financial institution’s 2% goal from the height two years in the past. But at their assembly on March 19-20, Fed officers unanimously elected to carry the benchmark federal funds charge in a vary of 5.25 to five.5%, the place it’s been since final summer season.