US rate hikes could slow as soon as Dec, says Fed chief

But inflation battle far from over and key questions remain unanswered, says Powell

WASHINGTON - The United States central bank could scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes as soon as December, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday, while warning that the fight against inflation was far from over and key questions remained unanswered, including how high rates would ultimately need to rise and for how long.

"It makes sense to moderate the pace of our rate increases as we approach the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down. The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting," Mr Powell said in a speech to the Brookings Institution think-tank in Washington.

But in remarks emphasising the work left to be done in controlling inflation, Mr Powell said that issue is "far less significant than the questions of how much further we will need to raise rates to control inflation, and the length of time it will be necessary to hold policy at a restrictive level".