(Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the American consumer was still strong in the face of heightened economic uncertainties, in an interview with Fox Business published on Tuesday.
“Their balance sheets are in good shape. They are spending 10% more than pre-COVID,” Dimon said, even as economic uncertainties arising out of the Russia-Ukraine war and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s monetary policy tightening persist.
Dimon said the uncertainties “may very well mitigate”, or not, and questioned if the they would be enough to encourage the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates to 5%.
Fed officials in December predicted that the rate, currently in the 4.25%-4.50% range, would rise to just over 5% by the end of 2023 and likely remain there for some time.
But bond markets doubt the central bank would push rates that far.
(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
