A top Federal Reserve official said it was time for the central bank to prepare to raise interest rates because inflation was likely to stay above the Fed’s 2% target for longer than anticipated.
Fed governor Randal Quarles, in his final public appearance before he leaves the central bank at the end of the month, said it was reasonable for the Fed to have held back from removing policy support for much of the year on the expectation that inflation was being driven primarily by idiosyncratic price increases related to the reopening of the economy.
