Fed’s Bostic Favors One More Rate Hike Then a Pause for Some Time

&copy Bloomberg. Raphael Bostic, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, speaks during a Bloomberg Television interview at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Moran, Wyoming, US, on Friday, Aug. 26, 2022. Federal Reserve officials stressed the need to keep raising interest rates even as they reserved judgment on how big they should go at their meeting next month.

(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said he favors raising interest rates one more time and then holding them above 5% for some time to curb inflation that remains too high. 

“There is still more work to be done, and I am ready to do it,” Bostic said Tuesday during an interview on CNBC. After the next move, he said he’s comfortable leaving rates at that level for “quite some time.”

Bostic said he’s expecting the economy will avoid a recession in his “baseline” forecast.

His preference is in line with the median of Fed policymakers, who have penciled in one additional quarter-point hike this year. Markets are pricing in the likelihood of a final rate increase when officials meet May 2-3.

Bostic doesn’t have a vote on monetary policy this year, though all Fed policymakers participate in rate discussions.

While inflation reports last week showed some signs of easing price pressures, most Fed officials who have spoken since have highlighted the need to do more to return price gains to their 2% target.

Officials have forecast rates reaching 5.1% this year, implying another 25 basis-point increase from the Fed’s current benchmark target range of 4.75% to 5%.

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