Fed Chair Powell Indicates He’ll Keep Bolstering Growth in Public Debut<br />His testimony comes at a critical moment in the economy’s trajectory, as global economies are strengthening<br />and as the Trump administration’s $1.5 trillion tax cuts begin adding economic fuel to the United States..<br />Investors are eagerly awaiting signs of how the Fed, under Mr. Powell’s leadership, will respond,<br />and whether it will seek to raise interest rates more quickly than expected.<br />But some investors believe the central bank could lift its rate four times this year, especially if the Trump administration’s<br />tax cuts, which took effect in January, provides a larger-than-expected boost to the economy and inflation.<br />Mr. Powell, a former investor and member of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors under Ms. Yellen, was sworn on Feb. 5 as the<br />Federal Reserve’s 16th chair, where he is charged with setting the benchmark interest rate that speeds or slows economic activity<br />WASHINGTON — Jerome H. Powell, the new chairman of the Federal Reserve, painted an optimistic picture of the United States economy on Tuesday and signaled<br />that he will continue to bolster strong growth during testimony before Congress in his public debut as head of the central bank.<br />Investors are watching carefully for any indication<br />that inflation could lift off faster than they had expected — a sign that the Fed might have to raise rates more quickly than it planned and risk choking off economic growth.<br />Investors widely expect the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rate in March, to a range<br />of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent, with some expecting another quarter point increase in June.
