SQUAWK BOX, THURSDAY 17TH MARCH, 2022

The U.S. Federal Reserve hikes rates for the first time since 2018 and indicates that there are six more to come in 2022. Wall Street jumps at the close on Chairman Jerome Powell’s assertion that the U.S. will likely avoid a recession. The central bank, however, downgrades growth forecasts while predicting core PCE will hit 4.1% at the end of the year. President Joe Biden calls Russia’s Vladimir Putin a “war criminal”, eliciting a sharp rebuke from the Kremlin. Washington approves up to $800m of military assistance to Kiev as Congress greets a video address by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy with a standing ovation. Zelenskyy tells NBC News that World War 3 may already be under way.