JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon: 6 or 7 interest rate hikes possible this year

Dimon says he sees 'a pretty good chance' of there being more than 4, as others have speculated

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon believes the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates in 2022 more times than some have speculated, saying even a half dozen or more rate hikes might be a possibility.

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"The table is set pretty well for growth," Dimon said during the bank's earnings call on Friday, "with obviously the negative being inflation and how that gets navigated and stuff like that."

"So, my view is a pretty good chance there’ll be more than 4," Dimon went on to say. "It could be 6 or 7."

Dimon explained, "I grew up in a world where [Carter and Reagan-era Fed chief Paul Volcker] raised interest 200 basis points on a Saturday night. And this whole notion that somehow it’s going to be sweet and gentle and no one is ever going to be surprised I think is a mistake, but that does not mean we won’t have growth."

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Dimon's projection comes after Goldman Sachs analysts said earlier this week that the bank expects the Fed to make four interest rate hikes in 2022, and that the central bank would start reducing its balance sheet by July. Meanwhile, Bank of America anticipates rates to get bumped up three times over the year.

The Fed has been under fire for not acting sooner to curb inflation, which hit a nearly 40-year high of 7% in December on an annualized basis. The ongoing inflation surge, which Fed officials had vowed last year would be "transitory," is now adding pressure for the Fed to begin raising rates sooner rather than later to curb the rising prices. 

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"As we move through this year, if things develop as expected, we’ll be normalizing policy, meaning we’re going to end our asset purchases in March, meaning we’ll be raising rates over the course of the year," Fed Chair Jerome Powell told the Senate Banking Committee during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday. "At some point perhaps later this year we will start to allow the balance sheet to run off, and that’s just the road to normalizing policy."

FOX Business' Megan Henney contributed to this report. 

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