The US Federal Reserve would put its credibility at risk if it prematurely declared victory in its fight against inflation and then had to raise interest rates again, one of the central bank’s top officials warned on Wednesday.
Mary Daly, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, told the Financial Times that recent economic data showing a further deceleration in inflation was “very, very encouraging” and indicated that the Fed’s policies are proving effective.
But Daly refused to rule out another interest rate increase, given uncertainty about whether the central bank has done enough to push consumer price growth back down to its 2 per cent target.