Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Monday that the central bank will “wait and see” how the Iran war impacts the economy and inflation.
“We feel like our policy’s in a good place for us to wait and see how that turns out,” Powell said during a presentation to a Harvard University macroeconomics class, Reuters reported.
“Inflation expectations do appear to be well anchored beyond the short term,” he added. “But, nonetheless, it’s something that we will eventually maybe face the question of what to do here; we’re not really facing it yet because we don’t know what the economic effects will be, but we’ll certainly be mindful of that broader context when we make that decision.”
The Iran war has entered its fifth week, and U.S. gasoline prices have risen to around an average of $4 a gallon.
The Federal Reserve left its overnight benchmark interest rate steady in the 3.50%-3.75% range earlier this month, following a two-day policy meeting.