<Anchor>



The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates again last night.

It increased by 0.75 percentage points for the second month in a row following the previous month.

As a result, the U.S. benchmark interest rate is higher than that of Korea.

Correspondent Kim Jong-won in New York will connect with you to discuss the details.



Correspondent Kim, did you eventually raise the interest rate by 0.75 percentage points as the market expected?



<Reporter>



Yes, after the release of the US consumer price index, which rose by more than 9% last month, there were many predictions that the Fed will raise interest rates by 1 percentage point all at once this month.



But that wasn't the case.



As originally expected, the increase was 0.75 percentage points, only at the giant step.



In fact, this giant step is also unusual to the extent that the United States performed it last month for the first time in 28 years since 1994, which means that the price situation in the United States is serious.



Chairman Powell once again stressed that he would make every effort to bring inflation down to the 2% target.

Let's listen.



[Jerome Powell/Federal Reserve Chairman: We are paying attention to the threat posed by high inflation.

I have a strong will to bring the inflation rate down to the target of 2%.]



<Anchor>



If the US Federal Reserve tightens money lines while raising the key interest rate in succession like this, fear of an economic downturn will inevitably increase, right?

But last night, the New York Stock Exchange rose again.



<Reporter>



Yes, it is.

The US government is emphasizing day after day that once concerns about an economic slowdown arise, everyone from the president to the finance minister can step in and avoid it.



It was the same with Chairman Powell today, let's hear it.



[Jerome Powell/Federal Reserve Chairman: I do not agree with the opinion that the United States is entering a recession.

The reason is that too many places in our economy are working too well.]



However, while the IMF yesterday expressed the opposite opinion that the US is unlikely to avoid a recession, many experts already believe that the US economy is in recession. I'm on my way, I'm diagnosing like this.



Under these circumstances, there is growing speculation that it will be burdensome for the Fed to continue raising interest rates.



Wall Street is even predicting that the Fed will cut interest rates again in the first half of next year.



In fact, today, Chairman Powell said that he could raise interest rates significantly in September, but on the other hand, he also emphasized that he would slow the rate of increase while monitoring the situation.

This is the topic.



[Jerome Powell/Chairman of the US Federal Reserve: It seems appropriate to raise interest rates significantly at the September monetary policy meeting.

But it may be appropriate to slow rate hikes while we evaluate how the Fed's past monetary policy will affect our economy and inflation.]



The New York Stock Exchange jumped sharply today, with the Nasdaq rising more than 4% on this remark.



<Anchor>



This rate hike has made the US interest rate higher than that of Korea, so it will have an impact on our economy, right?



<Reporter>



Yes, with today's 0.75 percentage point increase in interest rates, the US benchmark interest rate has risen from 2.25% to 2.5%.



This is higher than Korea's base rate of 2.25%.



There are concerns that foreign money in the stock and bond markets could flow to the US, where interest rates are higher, but this was not always the case when looking at data from past times when US interest rates were inverted.



So, if the interest rate inversion period does not last for a long time, there will be no big shock.



There is also concern about the possibility of inflation due to a rise in the dollar exchange rate.