Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System (Fed), Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank (ECB) President, participate in a policy panel at the 2025 ECB Forum on Central Banking, alongside Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey and Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda.
Fed Chairman Powell speech key takeaways
“The US economy is in a pretty good position.”
“If we ignore tariffs, inflation behaving as expected and hoped.”
“We expect higher readings over summer.”
“We went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs.”
“We’re taking time, for as long as the US economy is solid, the prudent thing is to wait.”
“Solid majority of FOMC participants deem appropriate to cut rates again later this year.”
“I wouldn’t take any meeting off the table.”
“Can’t say if July is too soon to cut rates, will depend on data.”
“We’re modestly restrictive at this level.”
“We will discuss communication and scenarios in the fall.”
ECB President Lagarde speech key takeaways
“I am not saying mission accomplished, but the target is reached.”
“We are well-equipped to navigate tormented waters.”
“We need to remain extremely vigilant on inflation.”
“Foreign exchange rate is a reflection of the strength of our economy.”
BoE Governor Bailey speech key takeaways
“We do see signs of softening in economy, labour market.”
“Direction of rates continues to be downwards.”
“Too soon to see price effects from tariffs.”
“Policy remains restrictive, will remain so.”
“Expecting restrictiveness to come down closer to neutral.”
This section below was published as a preview of the ECB Forum on Central Banking 2025 at 08:00 GMT.
- Central bank bosses to discuss monetary policy collectively in the ECB forum.
- Divergence in recent monetary policy between the Fed, ECB, BoE and BoJ makes the event particularly interesting.
- Jerome Powell’s comment will be particularly scrutinized ahead of the July policy meeting.
Jerome Powell, Chairman of the Federal Reserve System (Fed), and Christine Lagarde, European Central Bank (ECB) President, will speak at the 2025 ECB Forum on Central Banking at 13:30 GMT on Tuesday, July 1.
Alongside Fed Chairman Powell and ECB President Lagarde, Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey and Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda will also be taking part in the same panel.
The Fed left its policy rate unchanged in the range of 4.25%-4.5% following the June policy meeting, and the revised Summary of Economic Projections (the so-called dot-plot) showed that policymakers were still projecting the Fed to cut the policy rate twice this year. While testifying about the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report before the US Congress, Powell explained that the reason they adopt a cautious approach to policy-easing is that forecasts in and out of the Fed expect a meaningful increase in inflation this year due to tariffs.
The ECB lowered its key rates by 25 basis points (bps) in June, and ECB President Lagarde hinted that they might be at the end of the easing cycle. Meanwhile, the BoE maintained its policy rate at 4.25% after the June meeting, but three members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted in favor of a 25 bps rate cut, citing material further loosening in the labour market, subdued consumer demand and pay deals near sustainable rates. Finally, BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda reiterated that they will continue to raise rates if the economy and prices move in line with their forecasts after leaving the short-term interest rate target unchanged in the range of 0.4%- 0.5% in June.
About Jerome Powell (via Federalreserve.gov)
“Jerome H. Powell first took office as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on February 5, 2018, for a four-year term. He was reappointed to the office and sworn in for a second four-year term on May 23, 2022. Mr. Powell also serves as Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee, the System’s principal monetary policymaking body. Mr. Powell has served as a member of the Board of Governors since taking office on May 25, 2012, to fill an unexpired term. He was reappointed to the Board and sworn in on June 16, 2014, for a term ending January 31, 2028.”
