Jerome Powell's fed speech today brought interest rate commentary and a hot mic moment

More interest-rate hikes are still a possibility to bring inflation under control, Fed chair Jerome Powell said Thursday.

In a dramatic campaign to tamp down inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of 5.25% to 5.5%, a 22-year high.

The Fed stopped short of another rate hike in a meeting last week. And speaking Thursday in a panel discussion at the International Monetary Fund, the Federal Reserve chair said the board sees no urgent need to raise rates further, because inflation is easing. But he would not rule out another increase.

“We are not confident” that the benchmark rate is sufficiently high to reduce inflation to 2%, the Fed’s target, Powell said.

“We know that ongoing progress toward our 2% goal is not assured. Inflation has given us a few head fakes along the way.”

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Will the Fed raise interest rates again?

The annual inflation rate sits at 3.7%, as of September. Inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in June 2022, and has eased in the months since.

With inflation headed in the right direction, it would not be appropriate for the Fed to increase rates now, Powell said.

“If it becomes appropriate” to raise rates further, he said, “we will not hesitate to do so.”

The Fed faces an uncertain path, Powell said. If the panel raises rates too high, the national economy could falter. If rates stay too low, inflation could spike anew.

“We will continue to move carefully, however, allowing us to address both the risk of being misled by a few good months of data and the risk of over-tightening,” he said.

Powell had hardly begun his speech on closing inflation's door when climate-change protesters interrupted him, briefly pausing his remarks.

A live microphone caught someone off camera saying “Just close the f---ing door” before the feed went dead. Business Insider identified the speaker as Powell.