Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh announced a new era at the Fed in his first news conference at the helm of the central bank, signaling his plan to make it quieter, with less engagement with markets and to focus squarely on tackling inflation.
Warsh spoke at his first news conference as Fed chair on Wednesday, after overseeing his first Fed policy meeting. All 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee, or FOMC, voted unanimously to hold rates in the range of 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent for a fourth meeting in a row.
The new Fed chair was clear about his core focus. "I've said for years inflation is a choice," Warsh told reporters. "You bet it is."
He added that he was committed to bringing inflation back down to its 2 percent target. The Fed will next meet in six weeks.
In new projections, policymakers said they expected overall inflation to be 3.6 percent by the end of the year, higher than their previous estimate three months ago. Core inflation would be 3.3 percent, The New York Times reported.
