Powell: Market turmoil not a trigger for Fed action, dollar support ready

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell
| Photo Credit:
TOM BRENNER/Reuters

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested on Wednesday hopes the central bank will step in to tamp down on market volatility are likely misplaced.

“What I think is going on in markets is markets are processing what’s going on, markets are struggling with a lot of uncertainty and that means volatility,” Powell said in an appearance in Chicago.

Despite the tumult, “markets are functioning conditional on being in such a challenging situation, markets are doing what they’re supposed to do, they’re orderly and they’re functioning just about as you would expect them to function” given the uncertainty.

Ready to provide dollar liquidity

The U.S. Federal Reserve is ready to provide dollar liquidity through its swap lines with other central banks as needed, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday.

“We want to make sure that dollars are available,” Powell said in response to a question at an event at the Economic Club of Chicago.

“The reason we do it is it’s really good for U.S. consumers, so we’ll do that just as part of the dollar being a reserve currency,” he said.

More Like This

Published on April 17, 2025