Fed Chair Jerome Powell doubles down on more interest rate increases

June 28 (UPI) -- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned on Wednesday that the board could implement multiple interest rate increases to aggressively tackle stubborn inflation in the United States.

Powell made his comments during a central banker panel organized by the European Central Bank in Sintra, Portugal. Powell told other global central bank leaders that it has not been decided when and how rates will be increased, the latest data suggest more work needs to be done to address the stubborn inflation rate.

"If you look at the data over the last quarter, what you see is stronger than expected growth, a tighter than expected labor market and higher than expected inflation," Powell said during the meeting.

"That tells us that although the policy is restrictive, it may not be restrictive enough and it has not been restrictive for long enough."

It was a similar message Powell gave to Congress last week, suggesting that more interest rate hikes may be needed to slow the economy and inflation down.

After keeping rates near zero during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve went on a rate-hiking spree starting in March 2022 before holding off on the boosts in June.

"It's gonna take some time," Powell said. "Inflation has proven to be more persistent than we expected and not less. Of course, if that day comes when that turns around, that'll be great. But we don't expect that."

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told the same meeting the day before that interest rates in the eurozone will continue to rise to combat "too high" inflation. While inflation in Europe has fallen more than 4% since its peak, the current 6.1% rate remains well off the target 2% goal.

"We have made significant progress but -- faced with a more persistent inflation process -- we cannot waver, and we cannot declare victory yet," Lagarde said.