BlockBeats News: On June 24th, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell will have two opportunities this week to explain to members of Congress why he and most of his colleagues are determined to keep interest rates unchanged until September and ignore Trump's continued calls to lower borrowing costs. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve will testify before the House Financial Services Committee at 10 pm Beijing time on Tuesday and before the Senate Banking Committee at the same time on Wednesday.
Less than a week ago, Federal Reserve officials agreed to keep interest rates unchanged for the fourth consecutive meeting, and before his appearance, the United States recently attacked Iran, exacerbating concerns about soaring oil prices and global economic risks.
Trump stated in a post that he hopes Congress can "give Powell a good beating" and advocates that US interest rates should be "at least two to three percentage points lower". Last week, the Federal Reserve maintained the benchmark federal funds rate in the range of 4.25% -4.5%.
Powell is expected to cautiously follow the message he conveyed last week, when he stated that the Federal Reserve is "in a favorable position to wait and learn more about the possible direction of the economy" before considering any interest rate changes. The tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have not yet brought about the price increases and rising unemployment rates that policymakers have warned about. Two Federal Reserve governors, Waller and Baumann, have both stated that the impact of tariffs on prices may be short-lived and they may support a rate cut in July.
