The Fed keeps the FFR at 5.5%

Powell: “We remain strongly committed to bringing inflation to our 2% goal.”

Powell: “The stance of policy is restrictive.”

Powell: “The committee is proceeding carefully.”

Powell: “The process of getting inflation sustainably down to 2% has a long way to go.”

Powell: “Our restrictive stance of monetary policy is putting downward pressure on economic activity and inflation.”

Powell: “Evidence of growth persistently above potential or that tightness in the labor market is no longer easing could put further progress on inflation at risk and could warrant further tightening of monetary policy.”

Powell: “Higher treasury yields are showing through to higher borrowing costs for house holds and businesses and those higher costs are going to weigh on economic activity.”

Reporter: "You are not yet confident that financial conditions are restrictive enough to finish the fight?” Powell: “Yes, that is exactly right.”

Powell: “It would be hard to see how you would do that (put recession back in the forecast) if you look at the activity we have seen recently, which is not indicative of a recession in the near term.”

Reporter: “What makes you confident that tighter financial conditions will slow above trend growth when 500bps of rate hikes, QT, and and a minor banking crisis have not.” Powell: “That is the way our policy works, and sometimes it works with lags that can be long and variable.”

Powell:” Everyone has been very gratified to see that we have been able to achieve pretty significant progress on inflation without seeing the kind of increase in unemployment that has typical of rate hiking cycles like this one.”

Powell: “The committee is not considering changing the pace of balance sheet runoff.”

Powell: “If we fail to restore price stability, the risk is that expectations of higher inflation get entrenched in the economy and we know that is really bad for people. Inflation would be both higher and more volatile. That is a prescription of misery.”