In the fight against inflation, the US Federal Reserve has once again promised further interest rate hikes. “Restoring price stability will likely require continued tightening monetary policy for some time,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at the Jackson Hole Fed conference on Friday. In addition, historical experience speaks against easing monetary policy too early.
However, Powell did not yet give clear signals for the next meeting. “Our decision at the September meeting will depend on the aggregate of incoming data and the evolving outlook,” the central banker said. However, another “extraordinarily large” rate hike could become necessary.
The US Federal Reserve raised its key interest rate by 0.75 percentage points to between 2.25 and 2.50 percent at the most recent meeting in July. It was the fourth increase in the key interest rate since the beginning of the corona pandemic – and the second increase in a row by 0.75 percentage points. The reason for the decisive action of the central bank is the very high inflation. The annual rate in the US was 8.5 percent in July. The Fed is targeting a rate of 2 percent.
