STORY: Before the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve in the current year, central bank chief Jerome Powell announced a less aggressive approach to interest rates. As early as December, the time could have come to slow down the pace of interest rate hikes, the head of the Federal Reserve said in Washington on Wednesday. An interest rate hike of 0.5 percentage points is now considered likely on the financial markets. In early November, the Fed raised interest rates by 0.75 percentage points for the fourth time in a row. In the meantime, several monetary authorities have signaled that they could advocate smaller steps. Because there are increasing signs that the high inflationary pressure is falling more than expected – both in terms of consumer and producer prices. Powell said that in order to get inflation under control, it is necessary to keep monetary policy at a restrictive level that reins in the economy for some time. This is seen as a rejection of a rate cut that some investors are anticipating next year. The Fed President warned that monetary policy should not be relaxed “too early”.