Fed Members Divided on Rate Hike Path

August 24, 2018 Share Print 0

he Federal Reserve should stop raising interest rates now because the economy is showing no signs of inflation surging and is expected to slow next year after the effects of fiscal stimulus wear off, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday.

“If it was just me I’d stand pat where we are and I’d try to react to data as it comes in,” Bullard told CNBC at an annual central bankers’ conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “I just don’t see much inflation pressure.”

In a separate interview with CNBC, Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester took the opposite view, saying she still thinks raising rates gradually is appropriate.

The Fed under Chair Jerome Powell has been raising rates and is expected to do so again when policymakers meet next month. He is due to speak on monetary policy later Friday. Under the Fed’s rotating voting system for Fed regional bank presidents Bullard does not have a vote this year, but he participates in rate-setting discussions. Mester is a voting member of the Fed’s policy committee this year.

via Reuters

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Bio
Twitter
Google+
Latest Posts

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse

Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.