New York Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams pushed back against the idea that the central bank has begun to discuss interest-rate cuts.
“We aren’t really talking about rate cuts,” Williams said in an interview on CNBC. He noted it’s “premature” to be thinking about cutting interest rates in March.
“As Chair Powell said, the question is: Have we gotten monetary policy to a sufficiently restrictive stance in order to ensure that inflation comes back down to 2%? That’s the question in front of us,” he said.
The Fed signaled a pivot earlier this week toward reversing the steepest interest-rate hikes in a generation, with officials issuing forecasts for a series of cuts next year.
While Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday the central bank is prepared to resume rate increases should price pressures return, he also said the topic of easing came up at their meeting this week.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.