Fed chief Powell to give policy update to Congress in early March

Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell will testify before Congress on March 2 and 3 in what are likely to be his final public remarks on monetary policy before the US central bank begins raising interest rates to fight decades-high inflation.

Powell will deliver his regular semiannual monetary policy update to the US House Financial Services Committee on March 2 and appear before the Senate Banking Committee on March 3.

Both hearings will begin at 10 a.m., the committees said on Friday.

Fed officials have all but promised to exit their pandemic-era zero-rate policy at their next meeting on March 15-16 to bring down