Powell's first day of congressional testimony: Need "more good data" to strengthen confidence in inflation, high inflation is not the only risk
On Tuesday, July 9th, Eastern Time, at the semi-annual monetary policy report hearing held by the Senate Banking Committee, Powell first read a prepared speech. The Federal Reserve has repeatedly stated that it is not appropriate to cut interest rates until there is more confidence that inflation is steadily moving towards the Fed's 2% target. Powell mentioned in the speech the need to have more confidence in lowering inflation. He said, "The data for the first quarter of this year did not support this increased confidence. And recent inflation data shows some moderate further progress, more good data will enhance our confidence that inflation will continue to move towards 2%."
On Tuesday, July 9th, Eastern Time, at the semi-annual monetary policy report hearing held by the Senate Banking Committee, Powell first read a prepared speech. The Federal Reserve has repeatedly stated that it is not appropriate to cut interest rates until there is more confidence that inflation is steadily moving towards the Fed's target of 2%. Powell mentioned in the speech the need for more confidence in reducing inflation. He said:
"The data for the first quarter of this year did not support this increased confidence. And recent inflation data shows some moderate further progress, with more good data strengthening our confidence that inflation will continue to move towards 2%."