financetom
Economy
financetom
/
Economy
/
Fed's Logan calls for 'gradual' rate cuts, says 'should not rush'
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Fed's Logan calls for 'gradual' rate cuts, says 'should not rush'
Oct 10, 2024 10:09 PM

(Reuters) - Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Lorie Logan on Wednesday said she supported last month's outsized interest-rate cut but wants smaller reductions ahead, given "still real" upside risks to inflation and "meaningful uncertainties" over the economic outlook.

"Following last month's half-percentage-point cut in the fed funds rate, a more gradual path back to a normal policy stance will likely be appropriate from here to best balance the risks to our dual-mandate goals," Logan said in her first public remarks since the Fed reduced its policy rate to the 4.75%-5.00% range three weeks ago.

The central bank, she said, "should not rush to reduce the fed funds target to a 'normal' or 'neutral' level but rather should proceed gradually while monitoring the behavior of financial conditions, consumption, wages and prices."

In prepared remarks to an energy conference hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership, Logan ran through a litany of reasons to go slow, even as she also noted that inflation progress has been broad-based and the labor market has cooled.

"I continue to see a meaningful risk that inflation could get stuck above our 2% goal," she said, noting the potential for stronger-than-expected consumer spending or economic growth; "unwarranted" further easing in financial conditions; and the possibility that the level of borrowing costs that neither presses down or up on economic growth - the "neutral rate" - is higher than it was before the pandemic.

Other upside inflation risks include the reemergence of supply chain issues amid geopolitical risks and the East Coast dockworkers strike, she said, noting that workers and port operators plan to revisit their contract in January.

Logan did nod to risks that the labor market, while still healthy, could "cool beyond what is needed to sustainably return inflation to 2% or that the employment situation may even deteriorate abruptly."

And Logan also said she "supported" the decision, though omitting any modifier like "strongly" or "whole heartedly" that other Fed policymakers have used to characterize their degree of enthusiasm for the half-point move.

"Less-restrictive policy will help avoid cooling the labor market by more than is necessary to bring inflation back to target in a sustainable and timely way," Logan said.

Her comments made clear she remains worried that inflation pressures could reemerge.

"Downside risks to the labor market have increased, balanced against diminished but still real upside risks to inflation," she said. "Any number of shocks could influence what that path to normal will look like, how fast policy should move and where rates should settle."

The policy path, she added, should not follow a preset course; the Fed, she said, "will need to remain nimble and willing to adjust if appropriate."

The Fed will release minutes of its Sept. 17-18 meeting later on Wednesday, and investors expect to learn more about how divided policymakers may have been about delivering a bigger-than-expected rate cut, and their outlook for the rate path ahead.

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Vietnam's China ties loom large in US hearing on market economy upgrade
Vietnam's China ties loom large in US hearing on market economy upgrade
May 8, 2024
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's bid to draw Vietnam closer as a strategic ally clashed with his desire for union workers' votes on Wednesday as trade lawyers sparred over whether the Commerce Department should upgrade the communist-ruled country to market economy status. The move, opposed by U.S. steelmakers, Gulf Coast shrimpers and American honey farmers, but backed by...
US Dollar Outperforms as Won, Yen Struggle and BoE Decision Looms
US Dollar Outperforms as Won, Yen Struggle and BoE Decision Looms
May 9, 2024
06:15 AM EDT, 05/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The US dollar rose against most major counterparts in early European trade on Thursday as some prominent Asian currencies came under further pressure and traders looked ahead to a potentially dovish policy update from the Bank of England. US dollar pairs rose widely with the Japanese yen and Korean won leading declines in...
NY Fed's Perli offers guideposts to measure market liquidity levels
NY Fed's Perli offers guideposts to measure market liquidity levels
May 9, 2024
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The official responsible for implementing Federal Reserve monetary policy said in a speech on Wednesday that the recent announcement to slow the pace of contracting the central bank balance sheet reduces the prospect of market stress, in remarks that also laid out metrics for measuring when liquidity might be becoming too scarce. The Fed's announcement a...
Distrust in FDIC leadership drives more staff to consider exits, data shows
Distrust in FDIC leadership drives more staff to consider exits, data shows
May 9, 2024
(Reuters) - Staff trust in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's leadership has fallen sharply to well below government averages, with a growing number of workers considering leaving the agency, the latest FDIC staff survey data obtained by Reuters shows. In 2023, 38% of FDIC staff were considering leaving within the next 12 months, more than double that of 2020, compared...
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved