Chair of the US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell has given the clearest indication yet that the US central bank will start to cut interest rates.
In a highly anticipated speech to the Kansas City Fed's annual economic conference last week, Powell expressed confidence that inflation is within reach of the Fed's 2 per cent target.
He said "the time has come for policy to adjust", noting that while "the direction of travel is clear", hinting at lower interest rates, the timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks.
Most analysts have forecast the Fed will kick off its policy easing with a 0.25 or quarter-percentage-point rate reduction, which is the central bank's usual increment.
The Fed's policy rate currently sits at the 5.25 per cent to 5.50 per cent range.
Fed officials will provide updated economic projections at their meeting next month.
The announcement came days after Jamaica's central bank cut the local policy interest rate by 0.25 per cent, to 6.75.
This signaled the end of the COVID-19 pandemic linked rate hikes, forced by inflation.
It was the first cut in the policy interest rate since August 2019, and comes after 10 rate hikes by the central bank, which brought the local policy interest rate to 7 per cent.