Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said during the US Senate hearing that the risk of higher inflation has increased and that the US central bank will discuss in the next meeting about the opportunity to end the tapering with a few months of advance. The next Fed meeting is scheduled for December 14-15. Therefore, there is a prospect of reducing monthly bond purchases at a faster pace than the $ 15 billion less per month program agreed in early November. “At this point, the economy is very strong and inflationary pressures are higher, so it is worth considering tapering our asset purchases in my view … maybe a few months earlier,” Powell said. . “I expect we will discuss this in our next meeting.”
In October, US inflation reached + 6.2% per year, the highest level since 1990.
Powell’s words, which combined with the warnings of the Moderna CEO on the risk that the Omicron variant weakens the effectiveness of Covid vaccines, are fueling tensions among investors with the Wall Street indices falling over 1.7% and volatility shot up again (+ 24% in the area of 28 points).