FED officials Raphael Bostic and Austan Goolsbee expressed their views on the future of the US economy and interest rates in their recent statements.
FED member Raphael Bostic made various comments about the state of the economy. He noted that inflation was falling much faster than he expected and that the last few inflation data points to a bumpy road towards the 2% target.
Bostic stated that caution and care should be taken in monitoring these trends. Bostic also stated that it might be appropriate to reduce the policy rate in the summer months, signaling a possible change in monetary policy.
Regarding the health of the financial sector, Bostic stated that the banking sector is solid and strong. Expressing his optimism about the course of the economy, Bostic said that the economy is on a good path, but it will take time to normalize.
Another member of the FED, Austan Goolsbee, also shared his views. Goolsbee cautioned against extrapolating from January personal consumption expenditures (PCE) data, which showed a one-month recovery. Goolsbee said significant progress had been made on inflation in the long term.
*This is not investment advice.