United States Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stated on Thursday that a 50 basis point increase of key interest rates will be considered at the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in May.
Powell noted that in order to have a strong labor market, it is crucial to increase basis point hikes in the coming period, and added the goal is to reduce inflation back to 2%. He said it is "appropriate" to move more quickly on the interest rates, and stressed that "neutral rates" could be reached through tightening policy.
The Fed's chair agreed with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva that the global economy is greatly affected by the Ukrainian crisis, emphasizing the importance of stabilizing the markets globally.
