FED

fed powell enero 2024

Fed chairman confirms policy rate spike but will not cut rates until confident inflation is close to 2%

BancaMarch: Federal Reserve Chairman has confirmed the peak in official interest rates. Jerome Powell, has kept his January speech unchanged, indicating that monetary policy will change course at “some point this year”, without specifying a date. He also emphasised the risks of bringing forward the cuts too soon, resulting in a return of inflation and the need for an even tighter policy. Thus, the Fed will not cut rates until…


fed edificio

US banks ready to use Fed funding mechanism, Standing Repo Facility, that has been dormant for over two years

Norbolsa| Banks are finally signing up for a US Federal Reserve funding mechanism that has been largely dormant for more than two years, putting them in a stronger position to cope with any stress. It is unclear, however, whether they will want to use it in the event of a crisis. The Standing Repo Facility allows banks to borrow emergency overnight cash from the Federal Reserve through a repurchase agreement,…


fed powell enero 2024

Most Fed advisers warn of risk of cutting interest rates too soon

Bankinter: The main messages to come out of the 31 January meeting are: Growth outlook revised upwards after a solid Q4. Employment and wages remain strong but have moderated. The overall and underlying PCE readings will continue to decelerate in 2024, but are still off target. Uncertainty in the projections remains high, but has been reduced. Risks to the inflation projections stand out. Fed members put on the table the…


fed powell nov 2023

Powell looking for time

BancaMarch: Powell’s first press conference of the year. At this meeting, the top US monetary authority will try to buy time in the face of the markets, reaffirming the message of caution in the face of inflation far from the 2% target and a resilient economy. We do not expect any changes in interest rate policy and it does not seem to be the time to announce anything regarding the…


Fed 10junio19 1

Powell considers it “premature” to talk about rate cuts

Bankinter| Fed Chairman Jerome Powell made a statement in which he considered that it is premature to talk about rate cuts. In fact, they are prepared to act by raising rates if necessary. They will continue to take decisions meeting by meeting but monetary policy will remain restrictive until there is certainty that they are close to the 2% target. On the labour market, conditions remain very solid. The recent…


fed powell nov 2023

Fed remains cautious and meets expectations, leaves rates at 5.25/5.50%

Bankinter| The US Federal Reserve (Fed) met expectations and left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.25%/5.50%. Assessment: The Fed’s statement did not introduce any new developments and the decision met expectations by repeating rates once again. However, the key to the meeting was Powell’s message. In line with the previous meeting, the tone remained cautious. The Fed Chairman once again said that the central bank “will proceed carefully”, avoiding…


Federal Reserve

Rate hikes cannot curb inflation

J.P. Marín-Arrese | The Fed kept rates on hold this week. Yet, Jerome Powell shattered hopes they had reached a ceiling, announcing in the press conference that an extra hike was in the pipeline before the year-end. Inflation is still running too high and will likely take much longer than expected to match its medium-term goal. Powell was at odds in justifying why rate stiffening has neither cooled the economy…


FED julio 2023

Most Fed members believe monetary policy tightening to continue to be necessary

Bankinter| On Wednesday, the Minutes of the last Fed meeting (25/26 July) were published. On that occasion the Fed raised rates +25 b.p. to 5.25%/5.50% and insisted on following a data-dependent approach in future meetings. In the minutes most participants insist on the need to continue to fight inflation, which remains high (+3.2% in July for headline and +4.7% for core). On the other hand, some members warned of the…


fed jerome 3mayo23

Fed delivers, raises interest rates +25 bps to 5.25%/5.50%, and leaves door open for more hikes

Bankinter | The Fed met expectations and raised its benchmark interest rate (Fed Funds) by +25 b.p. to 5.25%/5.50% on Wednesday, leaving the door open for more hikes. Assessment: The most relevant thing is that it leaves open the possibility of a new tightening in September by maintaining a data-dependent approach. The most relevant aspect of this meeting was Powell’s message. In the dot plot of the June meeting, the…


FederalReserve

Fed wants to expand number of supervised banks by including those with assets of at least $100 billion

Banca March| The Fed has proposed, in its role as supervisor of the US banking sector, to apply stricter controls on capital levels to a larger number of institutions. This role will include, according to the new plan, those financial institutions with assets of at least $100 billion. According to Michael S. Barr, vice-president for supervision, with this new threshold, a greater number of institutions will be subject to stricter…