The member of the board of governors supports a move of 75 basis points at the next meeting at the end of July and probably 50 points in September.
One of the governors of the American central bank (Fed) Christopher Waller repeated Thursday that he was in favor of a further increase in key rates by three-quarters of a percentage point at the next meeting at the end of July to curb inflation.
“I support a move of 75 basis points at the next meeting (…) And probably 50 (basis points) in September,” he said. “Then following that we can debate whether to go back down to 25 (basis points) or do more if inflation just doesn’t seem to be coming down,” he added.
These comments come the day following the publication of the minutes of the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee which took place on June 14 and 15.
In the famous “Minutes”, it appears that Federal Reserve officials are concerned that skyrocketing inflation is taking root.
In May, consumer prices had continued to rise, to +8.6% over one year, a level not seen in more than 40 years while economists were expecting a slowdown.
The next committee meeting will take place on July 26 and 27.
“Personally, I think some of the fears of inflation or recession are a bit overblown,” Mr. Waller reacted on Thursday.
He noted that he did not see how you might have a recession with an unemployment rate of 3.6%.
On June 18, he had already said he was in favor of an increase of 0.75 percentage points in July.
“We may have to take the risk of causing economic damage,” the governor said Thursday. “But I don’t think, given the strength of the labor market at the moment, that this (the impact) should be significant,” he added, stressing that the goal was to slow growth over the course of the year. a few quarters “or even a year”.
“That may be enough to bring inflation under control without causing a real severe recession,” he concluded.
In the first quarter, US gross domestic product contracted by 1.6%.
Some economists believe the world’s largest economy might experience a brief, shallow recession later this year or early next year.