Powell vows that the Fed is 'acutely focused' on bringing down inflation
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank’s commitment to bringing down inflation, saying Friday it’s essential for the global
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank’s commitment to bringing down inflation, saying Friday it’s essential for the global financial system.
“The Federal Reserve’s strong commitment to our price stability mandate contributes to the widespread confidence in the dollar as a store of value. To that end, my colleagues and I are acutely focused on returning inflation to our 2 percent objective,” Powell said in introductory remarks for a Fed-sponsored conference on the global role of the U.S. currency.
Those comments come two days after the Federal Open Market Committee voted to raise the benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to a targeted range of 1.5%-1.75%. Banks use the rate to set borrowing costs for short-term loans they provide to each other, but it also feeds through to a multitude of consumer products like credit cards, home equity loans and auto financing.
Inflation has been soaring over the past year, with the consumer price index in May posting an 8.6% increase over the past year.
Fed officials target 2% inflation as healthy for a growing economy and have said they will continue raising rates until prices return to that range.
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