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WASHINGTON, Feb. 26-- U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress Tuesday in a testimony that the central bank will be "taking a patient approach" in determining future changes in monetary policy. The central bank, Powell said, will be "taking a patient approach with regard to future policy changes." He said policy decisions "will continue to be data dependent and will take into account new information as economic conditions and the outlook evolve." In his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee, the central bank chief said the current target range for the federal funds rate is at 2.25 percent to 2.50 percent, adding that the Fed "would be paying close attention to global economic and financial developments and assessing their implications for the outlook." Powell also talked about the Fed's effort to gradually shrink the size of its balance sheet by reducing the holdings of Treasury and agency securities. "The Federal Reserve's total assets declined about 310 billion dollars since the middle of last year and currently stand at close to 4.0 trillion dollars," Powell said. "Relative to their peak level in 2017, banks' reserve balances with the Federal Reserve have declined by around 1.2 trillion dollars, a drop of more than 40 percent." He said the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the Fed's policy-making body, "can now evaluate the appropriate timing and approach for the end of balance sheet runoff." | 
