WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Calling stable prices the "bedrock" of the economy, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday that the U.S. central bank's battle to control inflation would "include some pain" as the impact of higher interest rates is felt, but that the worse outcome would be for prices to continue speeding ahead.
We fully understand and appreciate how painful inflation is," Powell said in an interview with the Marketplace national radio program, repeating his expectation that the Fed will raise interest rates by half a percentage point at each of its next two policy meetings while pledging that if data turn the wrong way "we're prepared to do more."