Fed’s Daly: top policy rate of 4.75%-5.25% ‘reasonable’

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly on Wednesday said the U.S. central bank’s policy rate could...
16 Nov, 2022

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly on Wednesday said the U.S. central bank’s policy rate could end up in the 4.75%-5.25% range, high enough to squeeze inflation from the economy but not so high as to trigger a severe recession.

“We are … tightening into a strong economy, and I’m still optimistic we can bring this down so that Americans don’t feel we’ve solved one bad problem and put them in a much worse one,” Daly said in a CNBC interview.

The consumer is “hanging in there,” Daly said, speaking shortly after fresh data showed retail sales in October rose more than expected. But they are also preparing for a slowdown, she said, as the Fed raises borrowing costs to bite into inflation running at more than three times the Fed’s 2% target.

The unemployment rate, now at 3.7%, could rise to 4.5%-5% and while it could take longer to find work, there would still be jobs available, she said.

“Monetary policy works by slowing the economy: That’s how we restore price stability. Right now. I’m 100% determined to do that as effectively as we can, and as gently as we can,” she said.

The Fed earlier this month raised its policy rate by a fourth straight 75 basis points, bringing it to a range of 3.75%-4%. Daly said that as of September she felt it would ultimately need to rise to 5% and then stay there for some time to bring inflation down.

Aiming for a policy rate of “somewhere between 4.75% and 5.25% seems a reasonable place to go into the next meeting,” she said, adding that pausing rate hikes is not currently on the table.

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