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US central bank, the Federal Reserve, has hinted at the possibility of raising interest rates in March. As initially expected by the market, there was no surprise raise in January that was raised by some.
Correspondent Kim Jong-won reports from New York.
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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced at a regular briefing today (27th) that he would soon raise the benchmark interest rate from 0% to 0.25%.
It's time to raise interest rates.
[Jerome Powell/Federal Reserve Chairman: The economic situation is no longer in need of strong monetary policy support. That is why the Fed is cutting asset rates as planned, and it believes it is appropriate to raise the base rate soon.]
Rate hikes are decided at the regular meeting of the Fed's internal Federal Open Market Committee, which does not meet in February. Therefore, it is expected to be implemented in March.
The Fed has decided to end its $120 billion a month bond purchases by March, but at the same time interest rates will rise.
Chairman Powell also predicted quantitative austerity that would reduce the size of the balance sheet, but did not specify when.
The interest rate hike in March was a steady prospect in the market, and there was no surprise rate hike in January that was recently raised by some.
The New York stock market, which had been watching the Fed's announcement closely, showed relief in the early part of the session and continued its uptrend before turning to a downtrend after Chairman Powell's briefing.
On the other hand, as the price of Brent soared today amid conflicts over the Ukraine crisis, it surpassed $90 a barrel for the first time in seven years since 2014.