The Federal Reserve is ready to raise interest rates “further” if necessary

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Monday confirmed that the US Federal Reserve is ready to accelerate the pace of raising interest rates by 2022 and raise them one or more times over a quarter of a percentage point if necessary.

“If we decide it is appropriate to act more aggressively by raising rates by more than 25 points in one or more meetings, we will do so,” Jerome Powell said during the annual conference of the National Association for Business Economics.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates on Wednesday for the first time since 2018 against rising inflation. He announced a moderate rate hike by a quarter point, not immediately a half point.

Interest rates between zero and 0.25% since March 2020 have now risen to 0.25 and 0.50%. He expects tariffs to rise further in 2022 during each meeting.

Most officials in the finance ministry believe that interest rates will remain around 1.75 percent by the end of 2022.

“But if we decide to avoid this measure, which is considered 2 or 2.5 percent neutral, we will do the same,” Powell said.

But prices in the United States continue to rise. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve’s Monetary Board reviewed its economic outlook and raised its inflation forecast to 4.3 percent, more than double what was expected in December.

“Even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, inflation prospects have deteriorated significantly this year,” Powell said.

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