Sweet talker

27 February 2018 By Christopher Beddor

The new Fed chair deftly handled his first congressional testimony since taking office, giving few indications he is itching to tighten faster. If anything, his political nous and a friendly Republican majority might give the central bank more room to run the U.S. economy hot.

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Jerome Powell on Feb. 27 appeared before the House Financial Services Committee for the first time since becoming Federal Reserve chairman earlier this month. He pledged to strike a balance between avoiding an overheated economy and bringing inflation up to its 2 percent target on a sustained basis.

Powell said the central bank would stick to “gradual” interest-rate rises and a winding down of its balance sheet. The Federal Open Market Committee will hold its meeting to review monetary policy on March 20-21.

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