RE: Jerome Powell speaking today and tomorrow....7 Mar 2023 11:00
WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - At his last press conference U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said confidently a "disinflationary process" had begun, showing a "gratifying" corner had been turned even as he pledged the central bank's fight against rising prices was not over.
But inflation data since his Feb. 1 remarks has moved in the other direction - an inflation "surprise" index from Citigroup rose in February for the first time in months - and when Powell testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday the focus will be on whether he remains as confident as he was then that the Fed is on the right path to keep inflation steadily falling towards its 2% target.
Policymakers who have spoken since the most recent inflation data have opened the door to pushing interest rates even higher in response, with investors and economists raising their own expectations for how high the Fed may ultimately increase the target interest rate.