Fed Chairman Comments There Is Still A Long Way For Inflation To Return To 2%

Key Points:

• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell expressed a position that inflation is well above the Fed’s long-term target of 2%.
• According to Powell, the Fed has raised its policy rate by about 5% since the beginning of last year, and it will take time to have a full effect on inflation.
• Bitcoin posted significant intraday gains following the above news.

Further efforts to control inflation, according to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, are needed.

In a semiannual monetary policy report issued before the report to the House Financial Services Committee, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated:

“Inflation has moderated somewhat since the middle of last year. Nonetheless, inflation pressures continue to run high, and the process of getting inflation back down to 2% has a long way to go.”

Powell’s hearings before the House and Senate came just days after the US central bank’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) chose to keep interest rates constant after a year of 10 straight rises. Since March 2022, the Fed has hiked rates ten times, but inflation remains considerably over the central bank’s 2% objective.

“Nearly all FOMC participants expect that it will be appropriate to raise interest rates somewhat further by the end of the year,” he said.

Coupled with his remarks on monetary policy, Powell said that policymakers are aware of the need for careful budgetary and regulatory controls over a banking sector that faced instability earlier this year.

Powell, on the other hand, promised legislators on Wednesday that the Fed’s policy measures would adapt as inflation decreases. Moreover, although the Fed has increased its policy rate by nearly 5% since the beginning of last year, the entire impact on inflation will take time.

“Now we’re moderating that pace, much as you might do if you were to be driving 75 miles an hour on a highway, then 50 miles an hour on a local highway, then as you get closer to your destination, you try to find that destination you slow down even further,” he said.

His planned appearance before Congress to discuss the Fed’s semiannual report on monetary policy provides legislators with an opportunity to question the bank’s most senior official at a time when interest rates are high and economic growth is faltering.

According to the Fed Chairman, the country’s economy is encountering headwinds as consumer and business credit borrowing conditions tighten. According to some, this circumstance may have an impact on economic activity, employment, and inflation.

Once the Federal Reserve chose to suspend interest rate rises, stock and cryptocurrency investors became hungry. Bitcoin has surpassed $30,000 for the first time since April, boosted by crypto projects involving large players in the conventional banking industry.

The biggest digital asset surged by more than 8% in a single day. Smaller currencies like Ether, Cardano, and Solana saw increases as well.

Crypto investors have found solace in the launch of EDX Markets, a digital asset exchange supported by Citadel Securities, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Charles Schwab Inc. Separately, BlackRock Inc. and WisdomTree Inc. have both filed for spot US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. We encourage you to do your own research before investing.

Join us to keep track of news: https://linktr.ee/coincu

Harold

Coincu News