Federal Reserve officials caution against cutting US interest rates too soon or too much
Several Federal Reserve policymakers are warning against cutting U.S. interest rates too soon or by too much in the wake of recent data showing inflation stayed unexpectedly high in January
WASHINGTON — Several Federal Reserve policymakers warned Thursday against cutting U.S. interest rates too soon or by too much in the wake of recent data showing inflation stayed unexpectedly high in January.
Their comments echoed the minutes from the Fed's last meeting in January, released Wednesday. The minutes showed that most central bank officials were concerned about the risk that moving too fast to cut rates could allow inflation to rise again after it has declined significantly in the past year. Only “a couple” of policymakers worried about a different risk: that keeping rates too high for too long could slow the economy and potentially trigger a recession.
Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed's influential board of governors, titled a written copy of remarks he delivered Thursday, «What's the rush?”
“We need to verify that the progress on inflation we saw in the last half of 2023 will continue and this means there is no rush to begin cutting interest rates,” Waller said.
Inflation has fallen from a peak of 7.1% in 2022, according to the Fed's preferred measure, to just 2.6% for all of 2023. In the second half of last year, prices grew just 2% at an annual rate, matching the Fed's target.
Still, consumer prices excluding the volatile food and energy categories rose from December to January by the most in eight months, an unexpectedly rapid increase. Compared with a year earlier, they were up 3.9%, the same as the previous month.
Waller said that January's figures may have been driven by one-time quirks — many
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