The head of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, said on Friday that the central bank is ready for further rate hikes and will continue to struggle to achieve the 2% inflation target. During a speech at an economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Powell emphasized his position, expressed a year ago, that the Fed intends to continue efforts to curb inflation. «At the previous symposium in Jackson Hole, I expressed a brief and clear message,» Powell said. «The essence of my speech this year remains unchanged: the Fed's task is to reduce inflation to our goal of 2%, and we will definitely do it.» Powell presented two possible directions for the future interest rate – to leave it unchanged or to raise it. The head of the regulator also noted that inflation is still at too high a level. And until the Fed is convinced of a steady decline in inflation, the authorities are ready to raise the rate further, if necessary, and keep policy at a restrictive level. Powell stressed that to date, core inflation (PCE) reached 4.3% in July after 4.1% in June. He referred to the estimates made on the basis of recent CPI and PPI data to determine the indicators of July inflation. PCE data for July is expected officially on August 31.
