Chair of the Federal Reserve system Powell kicks off two day of testimony to Congress today
Its likely Powell will not depart much (if at all) from his recent themes:
- Fed is patient on interest rates further
- Awaiting data on the economic outlook
- He is also likely to speak on the balance sheet.
Anyway, a couple of bank previews:
TD:
- Expect him to emphasize patience, stating that any more hikes this year would likely require some pickup in inflation.
- On the balance sheet, he will not front-run the FOMC and announce anything new, but repeat that the Committee expects runoff could end later this year
Scotia:
- Powell testifies before Congress on the just-released Monetary Policy Report
- before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday
- followed by a near-repeat performance before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday
- Powell speaks again on Thursday about 'recent economic developments and longer-term challenges.' It's difficult to envision what more could be said over and above recent communications such as publication of the FOMC minutes, but the latter appearance could freshen up his take on things compared to the arguably semi-stale minutes.
