Jay Powell sought to stamp out fears that the Federal Reserve would begin winding down its asset purchases later this year, saying the central bank was far from considering an “exit” from its ultra-loose monetary policies.

Speaking at a virtual event hosted by Princeton University on Thursday, Mr Powell said the Fed knew it had to be “very careful in communicating about asset purchases” because of the “real sensitivity” among investors about the potential withdrawal of central bank support for the economy.

“Now is not the time to be talking about exit,” Mr Powell said. “[One] lesson of the global financial crisis is: be careful not to exit too early and by the way, don’t try to talk about exit all the time?.?.?.?because the markets are listening.”