Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said that he needs a little more data to support the decision to ease the monetary policy of the United States financial regulator, which implies cutting interest rates.
Mr. Bostic on Tuesday, August 13, during a speech at the Conference of African American Financial Professionals in Atlanta, stated the desire for confidence that after lowering the cost of borrowing, the US central bank will not face the need to change course. According to him, in this case, the most negative scenario is that the Fed will decide to cut interest rates, and then, in the context of the circumstances of the economic situation, it will be forced to resume raising the corresponding indicator.
Raphael Bostic has announced his likely readiness to lower the cost of borrowing by the end of the current year. It is worth noting that he has consistently declared the relevant position since March. Raphael Bostic also described the latest data on the dynamic of inflation in the United States as encouraging.
In August, concerns began to actively spread in the US that the country’s financial regulator had waited too long before deciding on lowering the cost of borrowing. The corresponding sentiment is with data on the situation in the United States labor market, which turned out to be worse than preliminary expectations. In July, the unemployment rate in the US rose to 4.3% after 4.1% in June. This figure is the highest in almost three years.
Raphael Bostic expressed concern about the rising unemployment rate in the United States. At the same time, he noted that this dynamic is associated with a larger supply of workers rather than a slump in demand.
Raphael Bostic is currently part of a group of Fed policymakers who disagree with the view that the central bank of the United States should respond more aggressively to changes in the economic reality space.
Investors are currently awaiting the Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which will take place next week. In their opinion, Jerome Powell, chairman of the central bank of the United States, will make a speech that may contain statements signaling the most likely results of the September meeting of the financial regulator.
