Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester and her Kansas City colleague Esther George evaluated the interest rate.
Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said officials were focused entirely on reducing inflation. At the same time, her Kansas City colleague Esther George warned that significant US savings could require higher interest rates to cool demand.
Referring to the Federal Open Market Committee, which set rates at a virtual event hosted by his bank Tuesday, Mester said, “Given the high level of inflation, restoring price stability remains the FOMC’s number one focus. Sustainable inflation is down to 2 percent. “We are determined to use our tools to put it on a downward trajectory.”
“While higher savings are likely to fuel consumption and require higher interest rates, these households are richer, less financially constrained,” George, Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank Governor, said at a panel hosted by the Bank of Chile in Santiago on Tuesday. “It’s certainly positive that we’re seeing it insured and better insured. But with that, falling inflation will mean we need to encourage savings rather than consumption.”
The Fed increased interest rates by 75 basis points for the fourth consecutive month, bringing the benchmark interest rate target to 3.75 percent to 4 percent. Both Mester and George are FOMC voters this year.
Investors expect the Fed to move to a minor half-point increase at its December 13-14 meeting, with the benchmark rate peaking at around 5 percent next year, based on the pricing of contracts in the futures markets.
Mester had previously said on Monday that he had no problem with the Fed slowing the rate hikes rate at next month’s meeting.
