Good morning. The Federal Reserve did not lower interest rates on Wednesday. That will likely influence the decision-making process for many CFOs when it comes to capital expenditures.

On Wednesday night in Atlanta, during Fortune’s CFO Collaborative dinner, sponsored by Deloitte, Dennis Lockhart, former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, told a group of finance chiefs from leading companies that he wasn’t surprised by the Fed’s decision.

When the Fed lowered rates in September, November, and December of last year, it was a recalibration phase to address inflation, Lockhart explained during a conversation with Fortune ’s Diane Brady. “Now they will wait and see how things unfold,” he said. Lockhart also thinks the Fed will not cut rates in March.

“I sympathize with all of you as CFOs, because it's a very difficult year to look ahead and capture the different scenarios in your plan that could unfold,” he said.

Some of the Trump Administration’s policies could affect the economy, Lockhart said. “It could be a fairly sizable effect, you just don't know,” he said.

He added that opinions are all over the map when it comes to tariffs, some of which may come into effect as soon as Saturday —and, when they do, will have a big effect on commerce and prices. Lockhart also cited other Trump policies that may prove disruptive.

“ Mass deportation , which is underway, the effect on the labor market, remains to be seen,” Lockhart said. The key industries that could be impacted are construction, agriculture, leisure and hospitality, home care, and to some degree, health care, he added.

“If I were a CFO today in January of 2025, and could get away with it, I'd have two budgets—budget A and budget B,” Lockhart said.

Budget A would reflect a pretty optimistic continuation of a relatively strong economy, a very nice labor market situation, and probably gradually declining inflation, he explained. But budget B has to factor in the effect of policies such as tariffs, mass deportations, and more activity from bond vigilantes, he said.

Finance chiefs appear to be turning bullish about the economy and their company’s prospects for 2025, according to Deloitte’s fourth quarter 2024 North American CFO Signals survey . However, despite the increase in optimism, when asked to identify their top priority for this year, enterprise risk management was the most cited answer.

Lockhart also shared that while at the Atlanta Fed, they would engage with business leaders to gain insight. Between meetings, the Fed would ask them the question: How are you experiencing the economy? “That’s a good question to ask,” he said.