Top Fed Official Sees Need for More Interest Rate Hikes
Christopher Waller
WASHINGTON — A senior Federal Reserve official said today that there has been little progress on inflation for more than a year and that more interest rate hikes are needed to get prices under control, according to a PBS report.
Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s governing board, did not specify how many more increases he supports, but said in written remarks that inflation “is still much too high and so my job is not done.”
Last month, inflation slowed as food and gas prices fell, but excluding those volatile categories, “core” prices kept rising and are 5.6% higher than a year ago. Waller pointed out that core prices have risen at about that same pace, or higher, since December 2021.
Waller’s comments expressing support for more rate hikes follow a forecast by the Fed’s staff economists, revealed in Fed minutes Wednesday, for a “mild recession” later this year.
Waller said that, like most of his colleagues, he is closely watching whether the collapse of two large banks last month will lead to a broad cut back in lending by the banking system, which could slow the economy.
Source: https://rvbusiness.com/top-fed-official-sees-need-for-more-interest-rate-hikes/
