“Disappointment” message from Fed Vice Chairman Barr
Fed Deputy Chairman for Supervision Michael Barr said on Monday that US inflation data for the first months of 2024 were “disappointing” and noted that the central bank lacked the evidence it needed to ease monetary policy.
In his speech at the Atlanta Federal Reserve conference, Barr said that the inflation readings in the first quarter of this year were “disappointing” and stated that these results did not give confidence in terms of loosening monetary policy.
In his statement regarding the Fed’s interest rate cuts, which the markets were eagerly awaiting, Barr said, “We will need to give some more time for our restrictive policy to continue working.”
The Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, was at 2.7 percent as of March and has been little changed in recent months after falling steadily last year. April data will be announced next week.
Stating that there is solid growth in the USA and unemployment is low, Barr said that the Fed is aware of the risks to both its inflation target and its duty to keep unemployment as low as possible.