Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly says there is no urgency to adjust interest rates, given a strong labor market, robust consumer spending, and a slower pace of moderation in the inflation rate in recent months.
The US central bank still has “a lot of work to do” before it can be confident that inflation is on the right track, Daly said.
“There’s absolutely, in my mind, no urgency to adjust the policy rate,” Daly said in San Francisco.
“Policy is in a good place right now, and I need to be fully confident that inflation is on track to come down to 2 percent – which is our definition of price stability – before we would consider a rate cut.”
Data released last week showed a key measure of consumer prices rose more than forecast for a third straight month in March, increasing concerns that inflation is re-accelerating.
Market bets around the timing and number of Fed rate cuts this year also shifted to just two reductions, beginning in September.
Daly said earlier this month she had penciled in three cuts in forecasts released following the central bank’s March meeting.
