(Finance) – “Progress on inflation is stalling in 2024. At this time, it makes sense to wait and get more clarity before moving.” The said it President of the Chicago Fed, Austan Goolsbeeduring the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing’s annual conference in Chicago.
Three months of negative inflation data “cannot be ignored” and the US central bank must wait and obtain greater clarity before adopting an easing of monetary policy, added the banker who is not a voting member of the FOMC.
The Chicago Fed president added that the interest rate level is “restrictive” and will continue to curb inflationary pressures as the economy returns to pre-pandemic levels.
Among investors, therefore, the fear of higher rates for longer remains, especially after the president of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, showed caution on Tuesday, maintaining that monetary policy will remain restrictive for the moment.
Goolsbee’s words, among other things, were preceded by those of the President of the Cleveland Fed, Loretta Mester, which in recent days had said it expected a further easing of price pressures this year, allowing the central bank to cut financing costs, but only when it is “confident enough” that inflation will sustainably head towards its 2% target. The Fed governor Michelle Bowman had said that progress in reducing inflation in the United States may be stalling and that it remains an open question whether interest rates are high enough to warrant a return to the 2% inflation target.
The Beige Book published this week, reported that U.S. economic activity has grown slightly, overall, since late February. According to the study, consumption increased marginally, although heterogeneously between the different districts and the various spending categories.