While inflation has dropped significantly from its highs last year, it’s too early to tell whether the Federal Reserve has finished its work in boosting interest rates—and they may even need to be hiked again, a top F♌ed official said.

In a speech delivered Wednesday morning, Boston Federal Reserve President Susan M. Collins said that the Fed’s aggressive 18-month rate-hike campaign needed more time to work, citing key data that showed inflation may be returning, and that rates may need to stay higher for longer.

The Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) will vote on the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:federal funds interest rate at its 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:next meeting on Sept. 19-20, though Collins is a non-voting member this year as part of a rotation of regional Fed bank presidents.

While Collins said she expected the Fed to hold rates at its 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:current 5.25% - 5.5% levels “for some time,” if inflation isn’t🃏 brought under control, she said it could force the Fed to raise rates again at future meetings. 

“And while we may be near, or even at, the peak, further tightening could be warranted, depending on incoming data,” said Collins, who pointed to recent data that showed inflation starting to tick back upward after falling from last summer.

Moꦓre Time Needed To ꧒Separate ‘Signal’ From ‘Noise’

After surging to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:more than 9% in June 2022, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:inflation has dropped since then, though at 3.3%, it is still above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. The persistent inflation prompted 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Federal Reserve C𓆏hair Jerome Powell to indicate that 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:more interest rate increases may eventually be necessary. 

Collins said recent information showed that interest rate hikes the Fed began implementing still haven’t caught up to the market, arguing that the “lag” of the effects of the hikes will take longer given that they were raised while the economy was strong. And while inflation has slowed, Collins said the decline of 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:core inflation raised worries, as it tended to be a better g꧃uide to future inflation trends. 

澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Economic growth has continued to keep demand for goods and services strong relative to su🐲pply, helping to keep up inflationary pressures, Collins said. However, she said expects growth to slow by the end of this year and throughout 2024. 

“Patience will give us time to better separate ‘signal’ from ‘noise’ as we assess available data; and to balance risks as the effects of tighter policy continue to work ♑through the economy,” Collins said. 

Collins’ remarks come as more Federal Reserve officials are scheduled to speak this week, including Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan, Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic, 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:New York Fed President John Williams, and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee. 

Also Wednesday, the Federal Reserve will release its 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Beige Book summary of economic conditions at 2 p.m. ET, giving insight into some of the data the Fed will assess before its September meeting.