03:01 PM EDT, 04/02/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester (voter) said that she believes that the evidence of slowing inflation the FOMC needs to cut rates will be seen this year but said that she doubts that it will come soon enough for the FOMC to consider cutting rates at its next meeting on April 30-May 1, saying the Fed has the room to be patient given the strong economy.

San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly (voter) said that while the three rate cuts projected for 2024 in the most recent Summary of Economic Projections is possible, the rate path is based on the how the economy evolves. Daly said that three cuts is "a very reasonable baseline, but that is a projection and not a promise."

Recent comments of note:

(March 29 Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (voter) said that the FOMC will be careful when deciding when to lower rates, saying that it can remain patient and not act too quickly or too late given the risks on both sides. Powell repeated that it would not be appropriate to lower rates until the FOMC sees "more good inflation readings" and the FOMC "will be careful about this decision because we can be."

(March 27) Fed Governor Christopher Waller (voter) said that it would be "appropriate to reduce the overall number of rate cuts or push them further into the future in response to the recent data." Waller said that he still believes that rate reductions could be appropriate this year but added that there was no rush to begin easing policy until the Fed see further evidence of inflation improvement, citing a "significantly lower" risk of waiting longer than cutting too soon.

(March 25) Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic (voter) said that he now expects only one rate reduction in 2024, compared with the two cuts that he had expected a few months ago, due to stronger-than-expected data and a later start to rate reductions.