Powell Signals No Rate Cuts Are Imminent
On Wednesday Powell outlined to the Senate Banking Committee his strategy in case of a financial crisis. Powell said that the Fed had two tools to fight a recession – quantitative easing, which involves large purchases of assets, and forward guidance, which means communicating with the markets about the likely future course of interest rate policy. Powell said that he believes that the Fed would use both these tools “aggressively should the need arise to do so”. Under Powell’s leadership, the Fed cut rates three times last year to snuff out any recessionary trends in the economy, but with rates currently at a range of 1.50-1.75%, there isn’t much more room to keep cutting.