- The Federal Open Market Committee may need to push through one or more 50-basis-point interest rate hikes this year to get inflation under control, Fed Governor Christopher Waller.
- “I really favor front-loading our rate hikes, that we need to do more withdrawal of accommodation now if we want to have an impact on inflation later this year and next year,” said Waller.
- The central bank should also start to reduce its almost $9T in bond holdings soon, he added. He’d prefer to start that process “in the next meeting or two.”
- Waller said there are major differences between this tightening cycle and the last. “We have a much bigger balance sheet, the economy’s in a much different position. Inflation is raging. So we’re in a position where we could actually draw down a large amount of liquidity out of the system without really doing much damage,” he said.
Member of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve Christopher Waller said on Wednesday, at an event in Phoenix said that “inflation remains too high” and that he will not be “head-faked by one report.” He plans to further focus on the “data between now and December” before making a decision on what the next monetary policy move should be. Waller reiterated that more interest rate hikes should ensue in order for inflation to fall back to the 2% target as “policy is barely in restrictive territory today.” He proclaimed that he sees the rate raises going “into next year.” “We still have ways to go,” Waller concluded.
Fed’s Daly: We want to see economy slow
San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said on Wednesday that the Federal Reserve wants to see the economy slow as it attempts to get it “back to a sustainable pace of growth.” She added that consumers are “stepping back” and preparing for a slowdown, which should help bring down inflation. Daly warned that pausing interest rate hikes is “off the table” but that the Fed is focusing on the level of rates and the terminal rate. She estimated that the rate between 4.75% and 5.25% is “reasonable” and that, after determining the high, the Fed will have to decide how long to hold it.
KC Federal Reserve President sees some painful outcomes
Kansas City Federal Reserve President Esther George said on Wednesday that monetary policy tightening, together with overheating in the labor market, is likely to result in “some real slowing,” and possibly a recession. “I have not in my 40 years with the Fed seen a time of this kind of tightening that you didn’t get some painful outcomes,” she told the Wall Street Journal. While the recent inflation report is a “good start,” George warned against considering ending interest rate hikes due to ongoing “strong price pressures in labor-intensive service sectors.” She suggested the Federal Reserve could revert to 25-basis-point hikes next year.