WASHINGTON, April 22 — Inflation in the United States has become “broad-based,” a top Federal Reserve official said yesterday, suggesting the US central bank’s fight against price rises through interest rate hikes has some road left to run.
The Fed has raised its benchmark lending rate nine times in a row since March last year to tackle inflation, which remains well above its long-term target of two per cent.
Several senior Fed officials have suggested in recent weeks that interest rates may need to increase further, and remain high, to control inflation.
Overall inflation, and other underlying measures of consumer price increases, remained high, Fed governor Lisa Cook said in prepared remarks in Washington yesterday.
“All of these measures have come off their peaks but remain elevated, suggesting that inflation has become broad-based in the economy,” said Cook, who is a member of the Fed’s 12-person rate-setting committee.
Cook said the path back to stable inflation “could be long and is likely to be uneven and bumpy.”
The “appropriate path” of interest rate hikes would be determined by the impact of the recent financial sector turmoil on bank lending, she added.
“But if data show continued strength in the economy and slower disinflation, we may have more work to do,” she said.
The Fed will announce its next interest rate decision on May 3.
Most futures traders now expect the US central bank will raise its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, according to data from CME Group. — AFP
