🇺🇸🚨BREAKING: Powell Still Sees Room for the Fed to Cut Rates This Year
Jerome Powell stressed the need for more evidence that inflation is subsiding before policymakers move to cut interest rates. "On inflation, it is too soon to say whether the recent readings represent more than just a bump," Powell said. "We do not expect that it will be appropriate to lower our policy rate until we have greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down toward 2%."
Powell reiterated that the FED can take its time before cutting interest rates as inflation fades and economic growth holds up.
He reiterated that recent inflation readings, which came in higher than expected, did not “materially change” the overall picture of cooling prices.
Federal Reserve officials will likely reduce their benchmark interest rate later this year, Jerome Powell said , despite recent reports showing that the U.S. economy is still strong and that U.S. inflation picked up in January and February.
He also sought to dispel any notion that the FED’s interest-rate decisions might be affected by this year’s presidential election. The FED will meet and decide whether to cut rates during the peak of the presidential campaign, in July and September.
Investors in interest-rate futures markets currently place slightly higher than a 50% chance that the FED will cut rates at its meeting in mid-June and pricing suggests they see a chance of fewer than three reductions this year.
FED officials' next meeting is April 30-May 1.