Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman, who oversees regulatory affairs, stated that it is too early to judge the impact of the conflict involving Iran on inflation, emphasizing that policymakers should look past temporary price shocks.
In a speech outlining her monetary policy views on Friday, Bowman expressed support for the language retained by officials in last month's post-meeting statement, which kept open the possibility of further interest rate cuts. This stance distinguishes her from a growing number of other Fed policymakers who prefer the central bank to signal that the likelihood of the next move being a rate hike or a cut is roughly balanced.
In prepared remarks for a central banking conference in Iceland, Bowman said, "As I think about the future path of monetary policy, I would like to see a clearer picture of the economic impact of the Middle East conflict and the persistence of those effects."
She added, "As long as we maintain credibility in our commitment to achieving our inflation goal, it is appropriate to look through temporary increases in inflation that are primarily driven by energy price increases."
Comments