During his participation in the Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference in San Francisco, the US Federal Reserve Governor, Jerome Powell, said that the personal consumption expenditures inflation index is in line with expectations, and there is no need to rush to cut interest rates during the bank’s upcoming meetings. The following are the rest of Powell’s statements:
- My first thought about the PCE was that it was in line with expectations.
- February's reading is certainly in line with what we want to see.
- Cutting interest rates too early would be very damaging.
- Waiting too long could mean unnecessary harm to the economy and the job market.
- The US economy is strong, there is no rush to cut interest rates.
- Making the right decisions is the most important thing, and the US Federal Reserve can handle any situation.
- The US Federal Reserve wants to be more confident before cutting interest rates.
- The latest core inflation figures show real progress.
- The US Federal Reserve expects inflation to move to 2%, but on a sometimes difficult path.
- If our base case is not met, the Fed will keep interest rates high for longer.
- We don't know where prices will go when this is all over.
- The economy is not suffering with this high level of interest.
- The US economy is undoubtedly strong, and the possibility of recession is not high now.
- If we see unexpected weakness in the labor market, that could trigger a response.
- The US Federal Reserve will not make decisions based on political considerations or anything like that.
- The US Federal Reserve did not overreact to the good data in the second half of last year.
- The first interest rate cut is a very important decision.
- Monetary policy is well positioned to react to different data.
- We will hold interest rates longer if inflation does not fall.
- My own prediction is that we will not reach the low interest rates seen before the pandemic (rates were between 1.50% and 1.75% in late 2019).
