Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday that it was “premature” to discuss pausing rate increases. His comments came as the U.S. central bank increased interest rates three-quarters of a percentage point in an effort to slow inflation.
“It’s very premature, in my view, to think about or be talking about pausing our rate hike,” Powell said. “We have a ways to go.”
The increase was the Fed’s sixth this year and put the short-term interest rate at its highest level in 15 years. The interest rate hikes have made mortgages and other consumer and business loans more expensive.
However, Powell hinted that the Fed could begin to decrease the size of its rate hikes as early as their next meeting in December.
“At some point,” he said, “it will become appropriate to slow the pace of increases. So that time is coming, and it may come as soon as the next meeting or the one after that. No decision has been made.”
This post was produced by Tim McPhillips, Julia Griffin, Dan Cooney and Kenichi Serino.
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