Federal Reserve's Moussallem: Need to keep interest rates unchanged for a period of time

CryptoWorld News reports that Federal Reserve’s Moussaliam stated on Wednesday that high oil prices could cause the core inflation rate for the remainder of this year to be nearly one percentage point above the Fed’s 2% target, and the Federal Reserve may need to keep interest rates unchanged. Moussaliam said, “We are likely to see some transmission of oil prices to core inflation,” and by the end of this year, the key measure of price increases will be “slightly below 3%, perhaps around 3%,” with further upside risks. Moussaliam mentioned that the Fed might keep its policy rate within the current 3.50%-3.75% range “for a period of time,” while monitoring inflation, employment, and economic data in the coming months, a view shared by many of his colleagues. The impact of tariff hikes last year may gradually fade this quarter, and housing price inflation is also weakening. As oil prices rise, a series of service sector inflation rates remain high, and if inflation begins to accelerate and potentially boost inflation expectations, he will be open to rate hikes. Moussaliam also said that the oil market is “the third negative supply shock in 12 months,” and combined with rising tariff rates and stricter immigration regulations, both inflation outlook and the labor market face risks, and economic growth could be affected. He believes that economic growth this year will slow but remain between 1.5% and 2%.