Four key takeaways from Jerome Powell's final rate decision as Fed chair

The Federal Reserve has held US interest rates steady after what was expected to be Jerome Powell's final meeting as chair.

Hours after his successor Kevin Warsh won the backing of a key Senate committee to take up the role next month, Powell announced the Fed's rate would stay between 3.5% and 3.75%.

It followed continued pressure from US President Donald Trump on the Fed to lower interest rates, with the Trump having criticised Powell throughout his presidency.

Warsh is expected to face the same pressure from the president, but has vowed to uphold the central bank's independence when he takes over from Powell.

After the bank's latest decision on Wednesday, Powell gave a press conference covering topics from the US-Israel war with Iran to Trump's attacks on the Fed. Here are the four key takeaways from a significant day for the future of the US central bank.

The Fed kept up its 'wait and see' approach to the economic uncertainty sparked by the Iran war.

The conflict has pushed up energy costs and is also feeding through to higher prices at the pump and more expensive grocery bills.

Against that backdrop, the Fed decided it was best to keep interest rates steady as it waits for clarity on how long the conflict will last – and how bad the fallout becomes.

Hopes of any imminent rate cuts were dashed when it was revealed March's inflation figure had shot up to 3.3%, the highest it has been since May 2024, but the Federal Reserve's statement suggested it would cut rates when it next meets.

However, Samuel Tombs, chief US economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said Wednesday's fresh oil price bounce, spurred by expectations the US will maintain its blockade of Iranian ports for the long haul, could see rate cuts delayed until 2027.

Central banks tend to raise rates when inflation is high to discourage people from spending and encourage them to save, something they hope will bring the rate of price rises down. They then tend to cut interest rates when the economy is weak to encourage spending and investing to boost job creation and economic growth.

Though this is expected to be Powell's last meeting as chair, his term as a Fed governor does not expire until 2028.

He said he will stay on at the bank until a Trump administration probe into him and the bank is "well and truly over".

US attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said the investigation would be closed, but Powell said he believed she would "not hesitate to restart the investigation".

"I've said that I will not leave the board until this investigation is well and truly over with transparency and finality, and I stand by that," he added.

The move will disappoint the US president, who has .