Federal Reserve governor Michelle Bowman stated on Tuesday that, in her view, the Fed is still not yet at the point where it is appropriate to cut interest rates. She added that should the incoming data indicate that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%, it will eventually become appropriate to gradually lower interest rates.
Bowman noted that her baseline outlook continues to be that inflation will return to 2% with the interest rates held steady at their current high level for some time but stressed that she remains willing to raise rates at a future meeting should progress on inflation stall or reverse. The official also assured that she would be cautious in her approach to future changes in policy stance, highlighting that reducing rates too soon or too quickly could result in a rebound in inflation.
The Fed's governor also admitted that she expects the U.S. inflation to remain elevated for some time and acknowledged that she still sees a number of upside risks to inflation.
In addition, Bowman suggested that the path of monetary policy in the U.S. might diverge from that of other advanced economies over the coming months as the underlying economic developments and outlooks across jurisdictions exhibit greater heterogeneity.