Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday affirmed that more interest-rate hikes are on the way as inflation in the United States is still too high above the central bank’s target of 2 percent.
“Nearly all” participants in the policy-making Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) “expect that it will be appropriate to raise interest rates somewhat further by the end of the year,” Powell said during his semiannual monetary policy report to the House Financial Services Committee.
Since last March, the Federal Reserve has elevated short-term rates in 10 consecutive policy meetings by a total of 5 percentage points. The bank’s target interest rate is currently set at a range of 5.0–5.25 percent, the highest since 2007….