By Michael S. Derby
Aug 4 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Jeff Schmid said on Tuesday that some sort of monetary policy tightening is needed to get “too high” inflation back to the 2% target.
“The economy appears to be performing well with the notable exception of inflation,” Schmid said in the text of a speech to be delivered before an event held by his bank on farming issues.
“My primary concern is inflation” and given recent data it does not look like monetary policy is restrictive and leaning against those price pressures, Schmid said. “As such, I believe that bringing inflation down to the Fed’s 2 percent objective will require tighter policy.”
The official, who does not currently have a vote on the interest-rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee, did not say when or by how much he’d like the Fed to raise rates.
Schmid’s remarks were his first since last week’s FOMC meeting. Then, officials voted in favor of keeping the federal funds target rate range steady at between 3.5% and 3.75% amid long-running worries that inflation is too high.
Three Fed officials voted in favor of a hike, to quell price pressures, and other officials who’ve spoken over recent days have signaled an openness to raising rates depending on what happens with the economy.
Markets are expecting tighter monetary policy. But the challenge for investors and traders is that new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh is declining to provide any guidance about what he thinks should happen with interest rate policy, and has been very light on the details of how he thinks about setting rate policy.
In his remarks, Schmid cautioned against shrugging off inflation that results from supply shocks and noted that recent relief from higher energy prices has proved short-lived, amid the ever-shifting currents of President Donald Trump’s Middle East war.
“Though the most recent inflation data for June showed an encouraging deceleration, it would be premature to put too much weight on a single data point relative to recent trends,” the official said, adding, “With the price of oil once again rising, it is uncertain how persistent any relief on energy will be.”
Schmid also noted that underlying levels of inflation are too high relative to the Fed’s 2% target and added that AI investment is also pushing up inflation in a way the Fed can’t ignore.
(Reporting by Michael S. Derby; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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