- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Stock markets mostly fall after Fed-fueled rally
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Gurbaz, birthday boy Rashid lead Afghanistan to 177-run rout of South Africa
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- McLaren's Norris sets Singapore pace as struggling Verstappen 15th
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- 8 dead in Israeli strike, source says Hezbollah commander killed
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
- Top Hezbollah commander 'killed' in Israel strike
Fed prepared to raise interest rates 'aggressively:' Powell
The US central bank is prepared to raise interest rates by bigger steps than the quarter-point hike announced last week if that is what's needed to contain "much too high" inflation, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday.
Consumer prices in the world's largest economy have surged to the highest seen in four decades, and the Fed last week raised the benchmark lending rate for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began to try to tamp down inflation pressures.
"If we conclude that it is appropriate to move more aggressively by raising the federal funds rate by more than 25 basis points at a meeting or meetings, we will do so," Powell said in a speech to an economics conference.
Inflation was already rising before the Russian invasion of Ukraine added to new price pressures and supply chain impediments that could spill over to the US economy, he told the National Association for Business Economics.
"There is an obvious need to move expeditiously" to remove the stimulus the Fed provided to the American economy during the pandemic, but Powell said central bankers are prepared to go beyond "neutral" and tighten policy if needed to achieve their goal.
Last week's rate hike was billed as the first in a series, and several policymakers have expressed willingness -- or the need -- to move in bigger steps.
- 'Very strong' economy -
St Louis Fed Bank President James Bullard dissented in the vote at last week's meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee, because he wanted a half-point increase as the first move.
Atlanta Fed Bank President Raphael Bostic, who spoke to the NABE conference early Monday, said he will "adapt" his views to the data, even if it means raising a full point.
"I'm comfortable with more aggressive movements if that's what the data and the evidence suggests is appropriate," said Bostic, who unlike Bullard is not currently a voting member of the FOMC.
"I'm going to be very, very open in terms of my approach ... it could at some point be move nothing. It could be 25; it could be 50; it could be 75; it could be one," Bostic told reporters.
Like Bostic, Powell said the key issue is containing prices, and he dismissed the idea of raising the Fed's inflation target to three percent from two percent.
"Inflation is much too high. We have the necessary tools, and we will use them to restore price stability," he said.
The labor market is posing challenges however, with employers struggling to fill open positions, and many people staying out to the workforce, in part to care for children.
The Fed chief noted that the sum of jobs and vacancies is about five million bigger than the size of the US labor force.
"This is a labor market that is out of balance," Powell said in response to a question, adding "We need the labor market to be sustainably tight."
He was optimistic the Fed can grind down inflation and sustain a strong job market without tipping the US economy into a recession, an elusive goal known as a "soft landing" -- and he does not see "elevated" risk of recession in the next year.
Even with the oil price shock sparked by the conflict in Ukraine, he noted that "today the economy is very strong and is well positioned to handle tighter monetary policy."
But he cautioned that "very little is straightforward in the current context," and there is high uncertainty about the impact of the war.
M.Odermatt--BTB