Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, stated at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium that “the time has come” for interest rate cuts. In the speech, he highlighted that the extent and specific time of monetary easing in the upcoming months will be influenced by the overall risk landscape of the United States economy.

Jerome Powell has expressed growing confidence that inflation will return to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Following months of gradually increasing unemployment, he also aligned with economists’ concerns that the labor market at the moment presents a growing hurdle to the economy, potentially outweighing the worries regarding inflation.

“We do not seek or welcome further cooling in labor market conditions,” emphasized Jerome Powell during the meeting.

Federal Reserve Chairman’s Dovish Remarks Spur Bitcoin Short Surge

Though markets widely anticipated that the chairman would signal a rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s September gathering, his remarks were somewhat more dovish than expected. Following the release of his presentation, Bitcoin‘s price surged to $62,100 before stabilizing at $60,900 at the time of writing, as per CoinMarketCap data.

After several years of near-zero interest rates, the United States central bank initiated a sequence of rate enlargements in early 2022, raising the federal funds rate to 5.25%-5.50% in 2023. Since then, the Federal Reserve has been waiting for unmistakable evidence that inflation is moving towards its 2% target prior to considering rate cuts. It appears that the time for such adjustments may now be approaching.

Looking ahead, the key issue is whether the entity will reduce the federal funds rate by 25 or 50 basis points at its mid-September meeting. While markets generally expect a 25 basis point cut, the likelihood of a 50 basis point reduction has risen to 32.5% from 24% just a day earlier, according to CME FedWatch.

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