Federal Reserve Board Governor Christopher Waller
‘Still no rush’ to cutting rates in current economyFed may need to
maintain current rate target for longer than expectedNeeds to see more
inflation progress before supporting rate cutNeeds at least a
couple of months of data to be sure inflation heading to 2%Still expects Fed to
cut rates later this yearEconomy’s strength
gives Fed space to take stock of dataData suggests fewer
rate cuts possible this yearEconomy is growing
at a healthy paceDespite progress on
inflation, recent data has been disappointingData has showed
mixed messages on jobs frontFed has made a lot
of progress lowering inflationWage pressures have
been easingUnsure productivity
will keep at current strong pace
I posted last weekend on the bombshell from Bostic:
Fed’s Bostic say he now anticipates only one rate cut this year
And I’ve reposted it and linked to it a number of times. It fits with comments from Kashkari back at the beginning of this month:
If economy continues to be healthy, why would we cut rates
And markets are beginning to be swayed:
“Why a Fed rate cut in June is not yet a done deal”
FOMC members are beginning to pile in on ‘higher for longer’ and ‘fewer cuts in 2024’. I hear the regular excuses:
<insert name here … Bostic, Waller, Kashkari(!)> is a hawk, of course (s)he’d say that
But if you are holding on to a June rate cut call, or for 3 rate cuts this year my advice is to stick it where you stuck the call for 6 (sometimes 7!) rate cuts that plagued us early in the new year.
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.