Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested Thursday in front of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) panel in Washington that the Fed is in no hurry to further raise its benchmark interest rate, claiming inflation pressures are continuing to ease at a gradual pace.
Still, he did not rule out the possibility of another rate hike to help reduce inflation to the Fed’s 2 percent target level, saying that “if it becomes appropriate” to raise rates further, “we will not hesitate to do so.”
Mr. Powell said he believes the Fed faces nearly equal risks of either raising its benchmark rate too high, which could derail the economy, or not raising it high enough, which could allow inflation to persist or worsen.
