MNI BRIEF: Fed's Powell Sees 'Couple' More Years of QT

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Tuesday the central bank probably has a "couple" more years of rolling USD95 billion in assets off of its balance sheet before it would slow down that process.

"The idea is we're in a regime of ample reserves. Reserves are basically deposits at the reserve banks and when we get close to that level where reserves are ample, kind of where we were before the pandemic, then we'll slow down and we'll sort of test where we are. But it will be a couple of years before we get to that level," Powell said in Q&A at an Economic Club of Washington event.

Powell said in July Fed models suggested the QT process could take between 2 and 2.5 years.