Powell (Fed): Lowers the bar of interest rate expectations after slowing inflation

The President of the Federal Bank of the United States ( ), Jerome Powell, wanted to take the tone on the timetable for their reduction. The head of the Fed said that the inflation figures published on Friday are “almost according to our expectations”, but reiterated that it would not be appropriate to reduce interest rates until officials are sure inflation is on track towards the 2% target. “It’s good to see something meet expectations,” Powell said Friday at a San Francisco Fed event, but added that the last readings are not as good as those taken into account by federal bank officials last year. “We don’t have to rush down,” he said. Powell had stated after this month’s monetary policy meeting that it would probably be advisable to relax the policy “sometime this year”. But he and others responsible have made it clear that they are not in a hurry given the underlying power of the economy and recent indications of persistent price pressure.