Watch: Jerome Powell holds news conference after Federal Reserve raises interest rates

Watch as Jerome Powell holds a news conference after the US Federal Reserve announced that it was to hike interest rates on Wednesday, 22 March.

The central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, indicating that further increases were to come.

The Federal Open Market Committee has voted to lift the target for the federal funds rate to a new target range of 4.75 to 5 per cent, the highest level since 2007.

"Recent developments are likely to result in tighter credit conditions for households and businesses and to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation," the committee said in a statement.

The hike comes after two US banks, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, collapsed in March, partly due to problems stemming from high interest rates.

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