1) Fed expects several rate hikes this year to keep inflation in check
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Tuesday that the economy is both healthy enough and expected several interest rate hikes this year to curb rising inflation.
“As we move through this year, if things develop as expected, we’ll be normalizing policy, meaning we’re going to end our asset purchases in March, meaning we’ll be raising rates over the course of the year,” said Jerome Powell while adding that at some point perhaps later this year the Fed will start to allow the balance sheet to run off, and that’s just the road to normalizing policy.
“If we see inflation persisting at high levels longer than expected, then if we have to raise interest more over time, we will,” stated Powell. “We will use our tools to get inflation back.”
2) Goldman adds additional rate hike for 2022
Goldman Sachs expects Fed fund rate to surprise the market this year, adding an additional hike to its forecast. The market had expected three rate hikes this year, but after the statement by Jerome Powell on Tuesday, the financial firm Goldman Sachs added a hike in December from its initial three hikes in March, June and September. The range would remain at 2.5%-2.75%.
3) Binance CEO expects crypto adoption at 20% in 2022
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao says global crypto adoption will jump from 5% to 20% in 2022, representing an increase from 395 million to more than 1.5 billion people.
He explains that crypto is versatile, can be used as currency, asset, reward token, utility token, and more. The applicability of crypto and blockchain has disrupted the financial industry and will disrupt more.
4) Omicron is life-threatening to unvaccinated people, WHO says
The World Health Organization stated that the Covid-19 omicron variant can be life-threatening for the unvaccinated, the elderly and people with underlying conditions.
“Omicron still represents a massive threat to their life and a massive threat to their health,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, referring to unvaccinated people. Meanwhile, the doctor said that vaccinated people will generally experience mild illness.
