Fed’s Powell ‘honest about the challenge’ amid inflation concerns

Testifying before the US House Committee on Financial Services, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell urged lawmakers not to worry about inflation unless prices were to rise in a troubling, persistent way.

Between deep wounds to the labour market and weak inflation, United States Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a simple message to investors fixated on rising US bond yields and price risks: watch the data, and don’t expect any changes in monetary policy until the economy is clearly improving. Testifying before the House Committee on Financial Services in the US Congress, Powell continued adding weight to the US central bank’s promise to get the economy back to full employment and to not worry about inflation unless prices begin rising in a persistent and troubling way. “We are just being honest about the challenge,” Powell told lawmakers when asked about Fed projections that inflation will remain at or below the central bank’s two percent target through 2023.