US Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell testified in the House of Representatives on the 6th that he believed that policy interest rates had already reached their peak, saying, ``We will start lowering interest rates at some point within the year.'' That will be appropriate."
However, he declined to mention specific dates.
The Fed decided to keep interest rates unchanged for four consecutive meetings at its monetary policy meeting held in January, and lowering interest rates has become a major focus as the next step.
Chairman Powell testified before a House of Representatives committee on the 6th.
In this regard, he expressed the view that the monetary tightening to date has put downward pressure on economic activity and the inflation rate, and that the policy interest rate has already reached its peak.
"If the economy progresses as expected, it would be appropriate to begin lowering rates at some point this year," he said.
On the other hand, when asked by a lawmaker when he would start lowering interest rates, he said, ``This is a very important step, so I want to look at the data a little more and take that step with confidence,'' but declined to give a specific date. I did.
The market is betting that interest rate cuts will be decided at the meetings to be held on the 19th and 20th of this month, and the 30th of next month and May 1st, as the price statistics announced last month exceeded market expectations one after another. observation is regressing.
The market is paying close attention to Chairman Powell's future statements regarding when the Fed will start lowering interest rates.
Market insider: ``I'm not surprised by the content of the Congressional testimony'' The yen continues to appreciate
In the New York foreign exchange market on the 6th, there was widespread speculation that the timing of interest rate cuts would not be significantly delayed following the pre-announced Congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and there was a growing awareness of the narrowing of the interest rate differential between Japan and the United States. As a result, there was a movement to sell dollars and buy yen, and the yen exchange rate temporarily reached the low 149 yen level to the dollar, causing the yen to appreciate against the dollar.
A market source said, ``There was a sense of caution among investors as Chairman Powell had previously made statements discouraging expectations for an early interest rate cut, but there was no surprise in the content of Congressional testimony, which led to a move to buy the yen.'' ” he says.