Jerome Powell promises to keep banking system safe as FOMC delivers second back-to-back 25-bps rate hike

The Federal Reserve — the US central bank — on Wednesday announced a hike of 25 basis points in the key funds range, or the primary lending rates in the world's largest economy. That marked a second straight hike of 25 bps in the current cycle of rising interest rates. The FOMC found inflation to have remained at elevated levels, according to an official statement.

Hinting at "some additional hikes" in the current cycle of policy tightening, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the US central bank remains committed to ensuring price stability, dashing nascent hopes of a pause in rates. He also said the Fed "will do enough to bring inflation down to two per cent".

However, Powell also said that the pathway to soft landing still exists, something he is "trying to find".

He acknowledged that higher interest rates and slower economic growth are weighing on businesses. 

The Fed's latest scheduled policy review comes at a time when banking shares are recovering from a recent crash on the back of a last-minute rescue of the troubled Swiss lender Credit Suisse, after the sudden collapse of US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) rocked the sector across major financial markets around the globe.   

Powell said the central bank is prepared to use all tools to keep the bank system safe.

The Powell-led Federal Open Market Committee — the central bank's all-powerful rate-deciding panel — voted unanimously on the rate decision after concluding a second scheduled policy review of 2023.

Catch highlights of the FOMC's second meeting of 2023 here