Fed officials say no call yet on 50 vs 75 bps rate hike in September
US Federal Reserve officials on Thursday were noncommittal about the size of the interest rate increase they will approve at their Sept. 20-21 meeting, but continued hammering the point that rates will rise and stay high until inflation has been squeezed from the economy.
Fed policy could lead to higher joblessness and is starting to crimp household and business spending, Kansas City Federal Reserve president Esther George said on CNBC, but the central bank will not flinch from tighter policy, Reuters reports.
George said it remained “too soon to say” whether a half-point or three-quarter-point rate increase would be most appropriate at the September meeting. However, she said, “our charge is pretty clear, to bring inflation back to our target” by raising interest rates high enough to fix what she called a “fundamental imbalance” between the demand for goods and services and the economy’s ability to produce or import them.
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