Fed officials who voted to hike rates say action is needed now against inflation
Federal Reserve officials who voted this week against the decision to hold interest rates steady said Friday they favor hiking now as a way to stave off...
Key points
- Federal Reserve officials who voted this week against the decision to hold interest rates steady said Friday they favor hiking now as a way to stave off inflation.
- "In my view, now is the time for the [Federal Open Market Committee] to act to speed the return of PCE inflation to our 2 percent objective and deliver on our commitment to price stability for the American people," Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said in a statement.
- "The longer that high inflation persists, the more challenging and costly it can be to bring it back down." Similarly, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said he believes small hikes now can prevent the need for larger moves later.
- Though he voted in favor of the hold, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said he remains resolute in getting inflation back to target.
What happened
Federal Reserve officials who voted this week against the decision to hold interest rates steady said Friday they favor hiking now as a way to stave off inflation. "In my view, now is the time for the [Federal Open Market Committee] to act to speed the return of PCE inflation to our 2 percent objective and deliver on our commitment to price stability for the American people," Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack said in a statement. "The longer that high inflation persists, the more challenging and costly it can be to bring it back down." Similarly, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari said he believes small hikes now can prevent the need for larger moves later. Though he voted in favor of the hold, Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said he remains resolute in getting inflation back to target. "We have begun a new chapter, and we understand that the five-plus years of inflation above target cannot be cured in nine weeks — or by a single month of modest price decreases," he said. Hammack said her constituents in the Cleveland area have been describing "pricing pressures as broadening rather than fading, and consumers are expressing despair over persistently higher prices." For his part,...