New York Fed’s Williams Sees No Urgency to Cut Interest Rates
(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said that there’s no rush to lower interest rates and economic data will determine the timing.
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Williams said monetary policy is in a “good place.” When asked about the possibility of raising borrowing costs, Williams said it is not his baseline expectation, but added it’s possible if the economic data warrant it to reach the Fed’s inflation goal.
“Monetary policy is in a good place,” he said Thursday at the Semafor World Economy Summit in Washington. “We’ve got interest rates in a place that is moving us gradually to our goals, so I definitely don’t feel urgency to cut interest rates.”
“I think monetary policy is doing exactly what we would like to see,” he said.
A key measure of consumer prices rose by more than economists expected for a third straight month in March, heightening fears that progress on inflation is stalling out.
Market-implied expectations for Fed rate cuts — which have collapsed in the past two weeks — declined further this week after Chair Jerome Powell signaled policymakers will wait longer than previously anticipated to cut interest rates.
Powell pointed to the lack of progress made on the inflation front, adding the Fed can keep rates steady for “as long as needed” if price pressures persist.
Just last month investors were betting on three quarter-point cuts. In projections following the Fed’s March meeting, policymakers narrowly penciled in the same.
Earlier this week, Williams said in an interview with Bloomberg Television that the central bank will likely start lowering interest rates this year if inflation continues to gradually come down.
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