By Michael S. Derby

NEW YORK Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the U.S. central bank is not thinking about lowering rates right now.

"The question of rate cuts just doesn’t come up” right now, Powell said at his press conference following the latest Federal Open Market Committee gathering.

He added: "It’s fair to say the question we’re asking is should we hike more” as officials weigh how they can guide inflation back to the 2% target.

(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)