Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said she is not ready to declare victory in the fight against inflation, and that the central bank is still committed to curbing price pressures “as gently as possible.”
(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said she is not ready to declare victory in the fight against inflation, and that the central bank is still committed to curbing price pressures “as gently as possible.”
“We will not be satisfied that we are where we need to be” until there is more confidence that inflation is on a path back to price stability, Daly said Friday during a fireside chat coordinated by Greater Phoenix Leadership.
The Fed on Wednesday held interest rates steady in a range of 5.25% to 5.5% — 22-year high — and most policymakers signaled they would favor one more rate increase this year. Officials also trimmed estimates for rate cuts next year, a sign they expect rates to stay higher for longer to contain inflation.
Daly, who doesn’t vote on monetary policy this year, said in her view policymakers decided to hold rates steady “so that we have more time to collect the information we need.” She did not comment on whether she expects the Fed will raise rates once more this year, as most officials expect, according to economic projections released this week.
Daly said that while recent economic data has been overwhelmingly positive, she is keeping an eye on short-term inflation expectations as energy prices rise, whether the labor market continues to slow, and on what happens to inflation in general.
“All of those are part of the recipe — or the data dashboard — we’ll be watching,” she said.
The San Francisco Fed chief said last month she was “very supportive” of the July hike and that officials would continue to assess economic data to figure out next steps as they work to reach the central bank’s 2% inflation target.
(Updates with data to watch in fifth paragraph.)
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