‘Inflation is too high and has been for too long,’ says Kevin Warsh as Fed announces rate hikes – live

Federal Reserve ‘Inflation is too high and has been for too long,’ says Kevin Warsh as Fed announces rate hikes – live Fed chair says it is focusing on price stability as committee decided that inflation was not ‘moving to our objective’ US Federal Reserve raises interest rates for the first time since 2023 LIVE Updated 4m ago Lucy Campbell Wed 16 Sep 2026 20.05 BSTFirst published on Wed 16 Sep 2026 18.37 BST Share Key events 17m ago 'We stay in our lane,' Warsh says of the Fed's independence 30m ago 'The plain fact is that inflation is too high, and has been for too long,' says Warsh 36m ago Fed chair Kevin Warsh gives press conference following decision to raise rates 1h ago Federal Reserve committee voted unanimously, 12-0, to raise interest rates 1h ago Fed raises interest rates for first time since July 2023 2h ago Federal Reserve expected to announce first interest rate increase in three years Kevin Warsh said the Fed committee was not confident that trends on inflation have ‘meaningfully improved’.

The plain fact is that inflation is too high, and has been for too long.

He adds: “This summer’s inflation readings do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.” Key events 17m ago 'We stay in our lane,' Warsh says of the Fed's independence 30m ago 'The plain fact is that inflation is too high, and has been for too long,' says Warsh 36m ago Fed chair Kevin Warsh gives press conference following decision to raise rates 1h ago Federal Reserve committee voted unanimously, 12-0, to raise interest rates 1h ago Fed raises interest rates for first time since July 2023 2h ago Federal Reserve expected to announce first interest rate increase in three years In a note to investors, Stephen Brown, chief North America economist at Capital Economics, said: The Fed appears to be on board with our view that its hike today will be followed by one more later this year.

While the latest Summary of Economic Projections implies that the Fed may be content with just two hikes in total, we judge that Fed officials are underestimating the potential for the unemployment rate to decline, meaning we are sticking with our forecast for a third hike in early 2027 as well.

“I love the inflation,” Donald Trump infamously said back in June, arguing that price rises were just temporary and would drop sharply once his war on Iran was concluded.

But the war continues and so do high gas prices.

Warsh earlier made the case that prices are too high: “The plain fact is that inflation is too high, and has been for too long.

This summer’s inflation readings do not tell me that underlying trends have a meaningfully improved.” Warsh stresses that the central bank’s decision to raise interest rates was not influenced by financial markets.

We made this decision today based on our assessment of the situation.

I’ll observe market prices and see what they have to say.

But today was our decision.

Taking questions from reporters, Warsh has declined to comment on Donald Trump’s repeated calls for rates to be cut, not raised.

“I’ve got nothing for you on a discussion with the president,” he replied to one reporter.

Later, when another reporter brought up Trump’s threats to cut off trade with certain countries, and asked Warsh when he last spoke to the US president, if he anticipates a post-decision meeting and if this is another test to the Fed’s independence, he reiterated: You gave me a long menu from which to choose, they’re all very tempting.

I don’t have anything for you on discussions with the president.

And I am not a Wall Street newsletter.

Part of the independence of the Federal Reserve is we stay in our lane.

Independence is a two-way street.

We will let people that do trade policy and fiscal policy stay in their lane.

That is the way we can stand up here and call them the way we see them.

Warsh adds of the rate hike: “Those who are least well off have the most to gain from a durable expansion, a solid labor market and stable prices.” “At our July meeting, we all agreed that inflation remained too high, and we expressed our joint readiness to act as circumstances might require,” Warsh says.

“And a good majority of my colleagues and I thought the wiser course then would be to weight new information in the inter-meeting period.

“In the last month in Wyoming, I expressed my commitment to a monetary policy discipline, not to a decision.

I defined the standard for action.

We must be confident that underlying inflation is moving to our objective, clearly and at sufficient speed.

“Today the FOMC decide that this standard has not been satisfied.” Yet, for more than five years, inflation has been running above target, Warsh goes on, so the Fed’s predominant focus is on the price stability side of its mandate.

He adds: “This summer’s inflation readings do not tell me that underlying trends have meaningfully improved.” “One basic sign of strength is the state of America’s labour markets,” Warsh says, highlighting the low unemployment rate, rising weekly hours and the relatively low rate at which people are filing for unemployment benefits.

The labour side of the Fed’s congressional agreement is in good shape.

“Our decision comes at a time when the American economy appears to be strengthening,” Warsh says.

Citing consumer spending, capital investment and other indicators, he adds: Consider the geopolitical landscape of shocks and uncertainty, and you begin to appreciate the resilience of the US economy.

Kevin Warsh is speaking now.

He starts off by reiterating what the committee released in its press statement.

I’ll bring you all the key lines here.

Democratic congressman Brendan Boyle, who is the ranking member of the House budget committee, released this statement reacting to the news: Today’s rate hike is further proof that Donald Trump and Republicans have failed on the economy.

When Trump took office, inflation was falling.

But just today, diesel hit the highest price on record.

Trump’s reckless tariffs and disastrous war in Iran have sent prices soaring again, leading to the Federal Reserve decision to raise rates.

Donald Trump will undoubtedly try to blame anyone but himself for this rate hike.

But if he wants to know who caused it, he should look in the mirror.

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