◀ Anchor ▶
US Federal Reserve Chairman Powell has made it clear that he will lower the benchmark interest rate within this year.
However, he also mentioned that ‘confirmation’ was needed that prices were more clearly controlled.
This is Reporter Lim Kyung-ah from New York.
◀ Report ▶
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell appears at a hearing of the Financial Services Committee of the US House of Representatives on the 6th local time.
“If the economy is moving along the expected path, it may be appropriate to start easing policy sometime this year, reversing the current tight monetary policy,” Powell said.
However, he diagnosed that “the economic outlook is uncertain, and reaching the 2% inflation rate target is not guaranteed.”
[제롬 파월/연방준비제도 의장]
″The committee does not anticipate that it would be appropriate to reduce the target range until there is more confidence that inflation is moving sustainably towards the target level of 2%.″
This is to re-emphasize the current cautious stance that interest rates will be lowered within this year, but not in a hurry.
This is the same as the position of the members of the Federal Reserve as shown in the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee ‘FOMC’ held last January.
Chairman Powell cited the strong US economy as the reason for maintaining his cautious stance.
In response to a question about the possibility of an economic recession, Chairman Powell responded, “We expect the US economy to continue growing at a solid pace,” and “there is no evidence or reason for a recession in the near future.”
As expected, Chairman Powell reaffirmed his previous position, and the market showed relief as the private employment indicator released today came out weaker than expected.
On the New York Stock Exchange, the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones all rose.
Chairman Powell is due to appear before the Senate Banking Committee tomorrow.
This is Lim Kyung-ah from MBC News in New York.
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