Fed will raise rates more aggressively if needed, Powell says – Reuters

Fed will raise rates more aggressively if needed, Powell says – Reuters

March 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. central bank must move "expeditiously" to bring too-high inflation to heel, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Monday, and will, if needed, use bigger-than-usual interest rate hikes to do so.

"The labor market is very strong, and inflation is much too high," Powell told a National Association for Business Economics conference. "There is an obvious need to move expeditiously to return the stance of monetary policy to a more neutral level, and then to move to more restrictive levels if that is what is required to restore price stability."

In particular, he added, "if we conclude that it is appropriate to move more aggressively by raising the federal funds rate by more than 25 basis points at a meeting or meetings, we will do so."