Fed Chair Powell had flurry of policymaker meetings a day before June rate decision

Jerome Powell met with two regional Fed bank presidents and three board members on Monday, June 13, his monthly schedule shows. It was the first time he had met more than two policymakers on a Monday preceding a policy meeting since April 2021. The Fed ended up raising interest rates at the June meeting by 75 basis points, the largest hike in more than a quarter of a century. Powell told reporters the Fed’s hand had been forced over the preceding days by ‘quite eye-catching’ inflation expectations data, as well as data on price pressures the prior Friday, and that he had settled on such an outcome with his colleagues before the meeting. Last week, the Fed raised its benchmark overnight lending rate by another three-quarters of a percentage point to a target range . . .