U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh emphasized on the 16th (local time) that the decision to raise interest rates was an independent choice rather than one driven by market conditions.

Warsh made the remark during a press conference following the rate decision, when asked by a Fox Business reporter whether the rate hike was market-driven, given that markets had priced in a 90% probability of a rate increase that day.

"Again, the Fed has enormous authority, and these decisions are ours to make," Warsh said, adding, "However, properly aligning mutual understanding between financial markets and the Fed is a matter that requires balance, and I have long thought that balance could be struck better than it is now."

He went on to reaffirm, "Today's decision was made based on an assessment of conditions, an analysis of employment trends, and a judgment on the health of the economy. At times, markets try to anticipate our decisions in advance. I also watch market prices to see what signals the market is sending. But today's decision was ours."

He also stated that he does not rely solely on data when making interest rate decisions.

"As you know, I am not a data-dependent person. Therefore, we will not react in a knee-jerk fashion to whatever data appears before us," he said.

When asked whether the intense market focus on the August Consumer Price Index ahead of this meeting was appropriate, Warsh responded, "Market participants seem to have grown accustomed over the past decade to holding their breath waiting for a single piece of data. But that is not my perspective. I did not hold my breath waiting for any particular data, whether it was the retail sales figures released this morning or the CPI figures released last week."

He added, "Trends are what matter, and individual data points are noisy. Relying on individual data is a dangerous obsession."

In his opening remarks at the press conference, Warsh reiterated the principles of monetary policy.

He clarified, "In my Jackson Hole speech, I expressed my commitment to adhering to the principles of monetary policy, rather than the rate decision itself. I laid out a standard for action: that we must be confident that underlying inflation is moving toward our goal at a clear and sufficient pace."
 
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)