Fed Chair Jerome Powell reiterated Tuesday that inflation is falling more slowly than expected, likely keeping interest rates elevated for an extended period.
“We did not expect this to be a smooth road. But these [inflation readings] were higher than I think anybody expected,” Powell said in Amsterdam. “What that has told us is that we’ll need to be patient and let restrictive policy do its work.”Tuesday brought a fresh round of discouraging inflation data, when the producer price index rose a higher-than-expected 0.5% in April.
Speaking to the annual general meeting of the Foreign Bankers’ Association in Amsterdam, the central bank leader noted that the rapid disinflation that happened in 2023 has slowed considerably this year and caused a rethink of where policy is headed.
“We did not expect this to be a smooth road. But these [inflation readings] were higher than I think anybody expected,” Powell said. “What that has told us is that we’ll need to be patient and let restrictive policy do its work.”
While he expects inflation to come down through the year, he noted that hasn’t happened so far.
“I do think it’s really a question of keeping policy at the current rate for longer than had been thought,” he said.
