This was stated by a senior official of the Federal Reserve Bank (FED) on Wednesday.
“I think it’s appropriate to reduce the overall number of rate cuts or push them further into the future in response to the latest data,” Fed Board member Christopher Waller said at a conference in New York.
To curb rising inflation, the Fed has raised interest rates rapidly and has recently held them at their highest level in 23 years.
The bank recently began talking about the possible start of a rate-cutting campaign, with the latest rate decision as monetary policymakers reaffirmed their forecast of three rate cuts this year despite a recent rise in monthly inflation and left the Fed’s key lending rate unchanged.
“Over the past year, we have made great progress in reducing inflation, but the data of the last two months is disappointing,” said Ch. Waller.
Both headline and so-called “core” inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, “increased 0.4 percent in February, which is clearly not progress toward our inflation target,” he said.
“Shorter-term inflation indicators are now telling me that progress has slowed and possibly stalled.” But we’ll need more data to be sure,” he added.
Although inflation has increased, US growth remains robust and the labor market remains strong.
This shows that the economy is still in good shape.
“Economic performance and the labor market continue to show strength, while progress in reducing inflation has slowed,” said Ch. Waller. “Because of these signs, I see no rush to start easing monetary policy.”
