“I always thought the soft landing was a plausible prospect,” Powell said at a news conference. Fed policymakers pointed to higher growth and a lower unemployment rate.
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that while some aspects are out of the central bank’s control, There’s a good chance that aggressive interest rate hikes won’t send the economy into recession.
“I always thought the soft landing was a plausible prospect”Powell said at a news conference after the Federal Open Market Committee decided to keep rates stable, meeting market expectations.
The Fed chief said that estimate remains valid, but warned that other factors could affect the entity’s outlook.
In their updated forecasts, Fed officials pointed to higher growth and lower unemployment ratesuggesting there is confidence that the economy will withstand rate increases without suffering too much.
An increase in the interest rate before the end of the year is not ruled out
The Federal Reserve maintained this Wednesday interest rates unchanged as markets expectedin a range of 5.25 to 5.5%, its highest level in 22 years, and anticipates a further increase this year. The decision was adopted unanimously by the Fed’s Monetary Policy Committee (FOMC).
This is not the end of the tightening cycle initiated by the central bank to control inflation, since it expects a new increase this year. By 2024, The central bank expects rates of around 5.1% compared to the 4.6% it estimated in June.
Source: Ambito
