Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell mentioned Wednesday it can take some time for policymakers to guage the present state of inflation, holding the timing of potential rate of interest cuts unsure.

Talking particularly about stronger-than-expected value pressures to start out the yr, the central financial institution chief mentioned he and his fellow officers are in no rush to ease financial coverage.

“On inflation, it’s too quickly to say whether or not the latest readings signify greater than only a bump,” Powell mentioned in remarks forward of a question-and-answer session at Stanford College.

“We don’t count on that it will likely be acceptable to decrease our coverage charge till we’ve larger confidence that inflation is transferring sustainably down towards 2 p.c,” he added. “Given the energy of the economic system and progress on inflation up to now, we’ve time to let the incoming information information our choices on coverage.”

The remarks come two weeks after the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee once more voted to carry benchmark short-term borrowing charges regular. As well as, the committee’s post-meeting assertion on March 20 included the “larger confidence” qualifier wanted earlier than reducing.

The Fed’s most popular inflation measure, the private consumption expenditures value index, showed a 12-month charge of two.5% for February, or 2.8% for the pivotal core measure that excludes meals and power. Nearly all different inflation gauges present charges in extra of three%.

“Current readings on each job features and inflation have are available increased than anticipated,” Powell mentioned. “The latest information don’t, nonetheless, materially change the general image, which continues to be one in every of strong development, a robust however rebalancing labor market, and inflation transferring down towards 2 p.c on a generally bumpy path.”

Different Fed officers talking this week have made remarks in keeping with the Fed’s affected person method.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic told CNBC on Wednesday that he thinks only one minimize may be within the offing as costs of some essential objects have turned increased. San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly mentioned three cuts is a “cheap baseline” however famous there are not any ensures, whereas Cleveland’s Loretta Mester additionally mentioned cuts are probably later this yr whereas including that charges over the long run could also be increased than anticipated. All three are FOMC voters.

Powell reiterated that choices are being made “assembly by assembly” and famous solely that cuts are “prone to be acceptable … sooner or later this yr.”

The uncertainty about charges has triggered some consternation in markets, with shares falling sharply earlier this week as Treasury yields moved increased. The market stabilized Wednesday, however merchants within the fed funds futures market once more repriced their charge expectations, casting some doubt on a June minimize because the market-implied likelihood moved to about 54% at one level, in response to CME Group information.