Fed Chair Powell says rates may not have to rise as much as expected to curb inflation
WATCH NOW VIDEO 04:33 Jerome Powell: Labor market slack likely to be increasingly important factor in inflation Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that stresses in the banking sector could mean that interest rates won’t have to be as high to control inflation. Speaking at a monetary conference in Washington, D.C. , the central bank leader noted that Fed initiatives used to deal with problems at mid-sized banks have mostly halted worst-case scenarios from transpiring. But he noted that the problems at Silicon Valley Bank and others could still reverberate through the economy. “The financial stability tools helped to calm conditions in the banking sector. Developments there, on the other hand, are contributing to tighter credit conditions and are likely to weigh on economic growth, hiring and inflation,” he said as part of a panel on monetary policy. “So as a result, our policy rate may not need to rise as much as it would have otherwise to achieve our goals,” he adde