Fed to show policy caution
washington — Jerome Powell heads for his first interest rate increase as Federal Reserve Chairman this week with an unanswered question looming above others: could his optimism about the US economy lead to more hikes than markets have prepared for?
Powell’s public comments and Reuters conversations with his Fed colleagues since January, when he was confirmed as chairman, suggest such fears are overblown: Powell, the consensus-builder, may make some tweaks to reflect changing economic conditions but is as committed to gradual, moderate rate increases as his predecessor Janet Yellen who adopted that approach.
The new chairman’s overriding concern will be to sustain one of the longest US recoveries for as long as possible, according to conversations with Fed officials and analysts. But given signs that the economy’s potential has strengthened, that might mean a policytightening cycle that lasts longer, with rates going a bit higher than earlier thought.
Powell was widely seen as a choice of continuity when President Donald Trump picked him. He served as one of the Fed governors during the central bank’s transition from crisis-era stimulus to a more balanced approach that led to three rate increases last year in response to steady growth and falling unemployment.
Yet uncertainty over how the 65year old lawyer and former investment banker would steer the Fed was on full display last month when global stocks sold off briefly after Powell’s first congressional testimony.
Investors initially took his upbeat assessment of the US economy as a sign he was more of a policy “hawk” than Yellen, and that four rate hikes might be in store for this year rather than the three previously telegraphed by the Fed.
This might still turn out to be the case. Even the dovish Fed Governor Lael Brainard noted recently that the economy’s “headwinds are shifting to tailwinds.”
But a stronger economy does not necessarily mean the Fed is abandoning its balanced assessment of risks to growth and price stability. Rather, it can give Powell wiggle room in balancing nudging inflation up after more than five years below target, and guarding against the risk of runaway prices as some $1.8 trillion in tax cuts and new government spending take hold.
Under Yellen, the central bank was still more guarded about the economic impact of such fiscal stimulus that could overheat an economy already near full capacity, but also boost business confidence and productivity, giving the rates more room to rise.
One hint whether the Powell Fed now sees more policy leeway will come on Wednesday when the central bank will publish its new median estimate of the so-called neutral rate of interest — the level that neither stimulates nor chills the economy. — Reuters