At today's meeting, the Federal Reserve's policy committee made the decision to pause on a rate hike, breaking a streak of 10 consecutive increases that began in March 2022.
By maintaining the current rates, the central bank gains additional time to assess the impact of its measures against inflation, providing a much-needed respite.
Furthermore, the central bank indicated the possibility of raising rates later this year, as half of the committee anticipates a half-point increase.
In his speech, Powell reiterated the FED's commitment to bringing inflation down the the targeted level of 2%.
He also stated that the committee currently believes that two additional 25 bps rate hikes are likely by the end of 2023 in order to meet this goal. Overall, Powell sounded hawkish despite the FED electing to halt rate hikes this month.
