Fed's Waller ready to axe "easing bias," though not advocating rate hikes yet

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, an influential voice in policymaking who until recently had advocated for lower interest rates, on Friday said the Fed should axe the “easing bias” from its policy statement and effectively open the door to a possible rate hike.

Waller said he wasn’t advocating for a hike at this point, but felt that at the very least the Fed needs to keep the current policy rate in place until it is clear inflation, which he worries is broadening and becoming more persistent, shows signs of returning to the Fed’s 2 percent target.

“Inflation is not headed in the right direction,” Waller said in remarks prepared for delivery to an economic forum in Germany. With recent data showing the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation hitting 3.8 percent in April, and broadening across goods and services, “I would support removing the ‘easing bias’ language in our policy statement to make it clear that a rate cut is no more likely in the future than a rate increase,” he said.

“The next move, whether it is a hike or cut, will depend on the data. Removing the language about the extent and timing of additional adjustments would make this point clear,” Waller said, a move he is prepared to make both because of high inflation and of emerging stability in a labor market that had driven his recent outlook for further rate cuts.

“I don’t see the prospect of a weakening labor market as the dominant force that should be guiding monetary policy in the months ahead,” Waller said.

Reuters

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