Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard called for his colleagues to hold off on raising rates again, but appeared to acknowledge that a move higher this month is pretty much a done deal.
Given where the economy is right now, “we’ve got a pretty good policy right now and we should stay where we are and see how the data come in,” said Bullard on Tuesday, in a transcript of an interview on Fox Business Network. The transcript was provided by the network.
Bullard isn’t currently a voting member of the interest-rate setting Federal Open Market Committee. That body meets later this month, and is expected to increase the current their target rate, which now stands between 1.75% and 2%.
In the interview, Bullard reiterated his view on rate increases is different from most of his colleagues. When it comes to a September rate rise, “markets are putting a very high probability on it. And if you talk to my colleagues, most of them seem to be putting a high probability as well,” he told the network.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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