WASHINGTON (Archyde.com) – The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) is likely to have to raise interest rates more than expected in the face of recent strong economic data and it is poised for even bigger moves if the “totality” of incoming information suggests that Tougher measures are needed to control inflation, its chairman said on Tuesday.
“The latest economic data is stronger than expected, suggesting that the ultimate level of interest rates is likely to be higher than expected,” Jerome Powell said in remarks prepared for a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee.
This is his first public statement since the publication of US inflation figures which showed an unexpected reacceleration in January.
(Reporting by Howard Schneider and Lindsay Dunsmuir; French version by Claude Chendjou, edited by Kate Entringer)