MNI BRIEF: Fed's Powell Says 50BP Hike 'On The Table' For May

A half-point interest rate increase is "on the table" at the Federal Reserve's next meeting in May, Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday during an IMF roundtable in Washington, adding it's appropriate for the Fed to move "a little more quickly" to contain historically high inflation.

"It is appropriate in my view to be moving a little more quickly," he said. "There's something in the idea of front-end loading whatever removal of accommodation one thinks is appropriate. So that's an added point in the direction of 50bps being on the table."

"Certainly we make these decisions at the meeting and we'll make them meeting by meeting but I would say that 50 basis points will be on the table for the May meeting," he added.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, while not affecting the U.S. as much as its European counterparts, will put upward pressure on U.S. inflation and downward pressure on output, he added.