When Jay Powell took to the lectern to give his first press conference of 2023, the Federal Reserve chair stuck to pretty much the same script he has been using since the US central bank started ratcheting up rates last year.
He spoke of the Fed’s unwavering commitment to rooting out high inflation and pledged to keep squeezing the economy until it is vanquished, insisting the central bank is not yet done with its campaign of interest rate rises.
“We are going to be cautious about declaring victory and sending signals that we think the game is won, because we’ve got a long way to go,” he told reporters on Wednesday after the Fed raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point. That marked a downshift from the larger increases the central bank has relied on in recent months and a return to a more conventional pace of tightening.