Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday that the United States central bank should begin reducing its asset purchases soon, but should not yet raise interest rates because employment is still too low and because high inflation will likely abate next year as pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic fade.“I do think it’s time to taper; I don’t think it’s time to raise rates,” Powell said in a virtual appearance before a conference. “We think we can be patient and allow the labour market to heal.”That outlook, Powell emphasised, is only the most likely case, adding that if inflation – already higher and lasting longer than expected – moves persistently upward, the Fed would act.
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