03:03 PM EDT, 05/01/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Inflation remains too high and has not been improving at the rate expected, but a rate hike is not likely in the near term, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday in a press conference after the Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

"I think it's unlikely that the next policy rate move will be a hike," Powell said, saying he believes that the current policy stance is restrictive enough to bring down inflation.

The focus now, he said, is how long to keep policy as at its current level and it would take evidence that it is not restrictive enough to bring down inflation to the 2% goal, not just from one source but multiple data points.

The FOMC maintained the federal funds rate range at 5.25% to 5.50% at its meeting but expressed concern about inflation.

"Job gains have remained strong, and the unemployment rate has remained low," the committee said in a statement. "Inflation has eased over the past year but remains elevated. In recent months, there has been a lack of further progress toward the Committee's 2% inflation objective."

The FOMC repeated in its statement that members need to gain more confidence that inflation is slowing back toward its 2% before considering policy reductions, but Powell said confidence is slow to come.

"So far this year, the data have not given us that greater confidence," he said. "In particular, and as I noted earlier, readings on inflation have come in above expectations. It is likely that gaining such greater confidence will take longer than previously expected. We are prepared to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate as long as appropriate."

Policy will continue to be set on a meeting-by-meeting basis and that the current level of the federal funds rate is "well positioned to deal with the risks and uncertainties that we face in pursuing both sides of our dual mandate."

The FOMC said Wednesday it will slow the pace of the runoff in its Treasury securities holdings, lowering the redemptions cap to $25 billion from $60 billion starting in June and leaving the cap on agency debt and mortgage-backed securities at $35 billion.