The Fed boss is making the fight against inflation his top priority.
This time, the markets no longer have any doubts about the US Federal Reserve’s intentions. During a long-awaited speech at the central bankers’ symposium in Jackson Hole (Wyoming), its president, Jerome Powell, explicitly specified that the key rate currently at 2.25 to 2.50% “was not at a level where you stop, where you take a break”.
With inflation at a 40-year high, and growth slightly negative since the start of the year, he is preparing Americans for future interest rate hikes that will translate into “most likely by some cooling of conditions in the labor market and some inconvenience to households… These are unfortunately the costs to be paid in reducing inflation, for failure in this task of restoring price stability would cause evils much bigger.”
Accused of having waited too long before abandoning its zero rate policy, while inflation…