Powell Confirms Slow Down in Rate Hikes Possible in December

The Federal Reserve may scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes already in December, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday in remarks prepared for the speech at the Brookings Institution.

"It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down.

The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting".

Still, Powell added that "terminal rate," is likely to be "somewhat higher" than the 4.6% indicated by in the September projections.

The Federal Reserve raised the target range for the federal funds rate by 75bps to 3.75%-4% during its November 2022 meeting, marking a sixth consecutive rate hike and the fourth straight three-quarter point increase, pushing borrowing costs to a new high since 2008.