Federal Reserve Chairman's Words: Possible Interest Rate hikes in the Future | Federal Reserve | Chairman
On June 21st local time, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell stated that due to inflation in the United States being "far above" the expected level, there may be further interest rate hikes in the future.
Powell is expected to attend a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee later. According to his testimony submitted in advance, inflation in the United States has eased since mid-20th last year, but inflationary pressures remain high. The process of combating inflation and bringing it back to 2% is still a long and arduous task. Therefore, almost all participants in the Federal Open Market Committee in the United States expect that further interest rate hikes before the end of 2023 are "appropriate".
Since March 2022, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates ten times in a row to combat inflation, from the initial zero rate to the current 5% to 5.25%, reaching the highest level since the end of 2007. However, monetary policy tightening often has a lag effect. Therefore, after observing the impact of policy tightening on the economy, Federal Reserve officials decided not to raise interest rates temporarily at the June meeting. But Powell stated that this move is not a sign that the Federal Reserve is ending interest rate hikes. He emphasized that subsequent decisions regarding the federal funds rate will be adjusted based on new data and meetings, and there will be no predetermined path.