Federal Reserve Officials Say More Interest Rate Hikes Are Needed to Curb Inflation

Several Federal Reserve governors and presidents say that more interest rate hikes are needed to curb inflation. “We are not done yet with raising interest rates,” Fed Governor Lisa Cook said. “We need to raise rates aggressively to put a ceiling on inflation,” Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari stressed.

Several Federal Reserve governors and presidents said this week that more interest rate hikes are needed to curb inflation. Their comments followed a similar statement by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell who said on Tuesday that additional interest-rate increases will be needed to cool inflation.

At an event hosted by the Joint Center for Policy and Economic Studies on Wednesday, Fed Governor Lisa Cook stated:

We are determined to bring inflation down to our target … So I think we are not done yet with raising interest rates, and we will need to keep interest rates sufficiently restrictive.

“We are now moving in smaller steps,” Cook added. “This will give us time to evaluate the effects of our fast actions on the economy.”

After a series of 75-basis-point rate hikes last year, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points last week to 4.5%-4.75%.

Citing the January jobs report showing nonfarm payroll growth of 517,000, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said Wednesday at the Arkansas State University Agribusiness Conference, “We are seeing that effort begin to pay off, but we have farther to go.” He emphasized:

It might be a long fight, with interest rates higher for longer than some are currently expecting. But I will not hesitate to do what is needed to get my job done.

New York Fed President John Williams said at a Wall Street Journal event Wednesday that moving to a federal funds rate of between 5.00% and 5.25% “seems a very reasonable view of what we’ll need to do this year in order to get the supply and demand imbalances down.”

In addition, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said on CNBC Tuesday: “We have a job to do. We know that raising rates can put a lid on inflation.” He added:

We need to raise rates aggressively to put a ceiling on inflation, then let monetary policy work its way through the economy … I’m not seeing that we’ve made enough progress yet to declare victory.

How long do you think the Fed will continue to raise interest rates? Let us know in the comments section below.