Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said he’s “prepared for a longer fight to get inflation down” and said interest rates need to remain high for “some time” to make sure intense price pressures are eradicated. “Inflation remains quite elevated, and so more needs to be done,” Waller said in a speech at an agribusiness conference at Arkansas State University.
The Fed last week raised its benchmark short-term rate by 1/4 percentage point. Since early 2021 the Fed has jacked up the rate from near zero to a range of 4.5% to 4.75% as part of an effort to tame high inflation. The central bank is on track to raise rates a “couple more times,” Chairman Jerome Powell said recently. If so, the so-called fed funds rate could rise to a possible peak of 5% to 5.25% by May. The rate affects borrowing costs for consumers and companies on everything from credit cards fees and mortgages to business loans and daily transactions between large banks. Waller did not say in his speech how far he wanted the Fed to raise rates, but he said he’s seen little evidence inflation is falling “quickly.” As a result, the Fed needs to be prepared to keep interest rates at their peak for a wh …