Washington (AFP) – The US Federal Reserve’s ongoing fight against inflation could take “longer than expected,” the head of the US central bank said Tuesday, further paring back the chances of early rate cuts.
from France24
The Fed has been battling rising prices with interest rate hikes since 2022, lifting its key lending rate to a 23-year high as it looks to hit its long-term inflation target of two percent.
But three months of higher inflation data since the start of 2024 have threatened to undermine the expectation of interest rate cuts this year, with one senior Fed policymaker recently suggesting that rates could remain at their current levels until 2025.
“The recent data have clearly not given us greater confidence, and instead indicate that it’s likely to take longer than expected to achieve that confidence,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said during an event in Washington on Tuesday that was streamed online.