The Federal Reserve announced Wednesday it would raise its interest rate target by a quarter percentage point in an effort to curb soaring inflation, a major step away from its pandemic-era emergency policies.

Fed officials, as a group, also indicated that they expect seven or eight rate hikes over the course of 2022 — a much higher number than the three that were projected during the last quarter. One unnamed participant is pushing for up to a dozen rate hikes, according to Wednesday’s release. The urgency in raising rates is a reaction to the high rate of inflation, which officials now see running significantly higher over the course of 2022.

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