Speaking on Friday, Waller, a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, said:-
- The beginning of policy easing and the number of interest rate cuts will depend on the data received.
- The committee can wait a little longer to ease monetary policy.
- Puzzled by the narrative that delaying cuts for one or two meetings risks causing a recession.
- The supposed asymmetry of the delayed effects of interest rate hikes versus interest rate cuts is not supported by any model I know of.
- Delaying the cuts for a few months will not have a significant impact on the economy in the near term.
- A cut too early could lead to a squandering of the progress achieved in inflation and risk significant damage to the economy.
- The data received since the last speech on January 16 reinforced the view that we need to check the continued progress of inflation since the last half of 2023.
- There is no hurry to start lowering interest rates.
- The strength of the economy and recent inflation data mean that it is appropriate to be patient, cautious and methodicalwhether the word you choose،
- Last week's CPI report is a reminder that continued progress on inflation is not guaranteed.
- It is not yet clear whether the CPI is driven by strange seasonal factors and significant increases in housing costs or indicates that inflation is more stable than thought and it will be difficult to lower it to the target.
- This means waiting longer before we have enough confidence that starting to cut interest rates will keep us on the path of inflation at 2%.
- Despite this, we still expect policy easing this year.
- The risk of waiting a little longer to mitigate is less than the risk of acting too early.
- Many indicators indicate some slowdown in growth.
- The latest data on job openings and resignations may indicate that the moderation of the labor market has stopped.
- It is comforting to know that the progress we made was real, not a mirage.
- We still see that wage growth is quite high to achieve the inflation target of 2%.
- We need to see a few more months of inflation data to make sure whether January is a coincidence and we are still on the right track towards price stability.
- There are no indications of an imminent recession.
Waller is sticking to his point of view, and this is no different from others at the Fed،
