(Reuters) – San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly on Monday said “confidence is growing” that inflation is heading toward the U.S. central bank’s 2% goal, the bar that policymakers have set for cutting interest rates.
“Confidence is growing that we are getting nearer a sustainable pace of getting inflation back down to 2%,” Daly told a tech-focused conference organized by Fortune in Park City, Utah, adding that she expects a policy adjustment at some point.
“I’m not going to give time-based guidance. I’m not going to tell you when the rate cut is, how many rate cuts might come,” Daly said. “Over time, as inflation comes down and the labor market slows, we have to make sure that we’re holding rates high enough that we don’t lose that inflation fight, but not hold them too long and risk worsening the labor market to a point where it’s challenging for people to get jobs.”
The Fed next meets in about two weeks, and is widely expected to hold policy steady in the 5.25%-5.5% range, where it has been since last July.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chris Reese and Richard Chang)
