Not in a rush to lower interest rates

US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell confirmed in a speech on Friday that the bank is in no hurry to start lowering interest rates.

Bloomberg quoted Powell as saying at an event at the bank’s branch in San Francisco: “We do not need to be in a rush to make the cut.” He added, “The new inflation data released earlier are largely in line with our expectations.”

Powell stressed that it would not be appropriate to lower interest rates until officials are confident that inflation is on the right track towards the goal of reaching 2%.

“It’s good to see something in line with expectations,” the Fed chief said, adding that the latest readings are not as good as what policymakers saw last year.

Government data released on Friday showed that the central bank’s preferred measure of core inflation declined last month after a larger increase than before in January.

The core personal consumption expenditures price index – excluding volatile food and energy costs – rose 0.3% in February, after a 0.5% jump the previous month, marking its largest rise in consecutive gains within a year.

Powell said that officials expect inflation to continue to decline, but with difficulty, confirming his remarks he made after the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy committee meeting earlier this month. (Sky News)