(Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said central bank officials are not “actively” considering a rate hike of three-quarters of a percentage point at coming monetary policy meetings.
“A 75 basis point increase is not something that the committee is actively considering,” Powell said in response to a question at a press conference following the Fed’s latest meeting, at which it decided to lift rates by half a percentage point and signaled more increases are coming.
Interest rate futures markets had been assigning a significant probability to the Fed lifting rates by three quarters of a point at its next meeting in June.
(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
