U.S. Fed Official Again Addresses Inflation: "It Must Be Lowered to 2%"

[Financial News] The Federal Reserve System (Fed) raised interest rates this month for the first time in three years and two months to curb inflation. Another warning has emerged from within the Fed that inflation is extremely serious.
Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, told Fox News on the 20th (local time) that inflation in the United States had risen too sharply and stressed that the Fed should take action to contain it.
He said, "Even excluding highly volatile energy and food prices, inflation remains far too high when you look at the direction of the economy," adding, "The Fed's role is to bring inflation down to its target of 2%."
The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) rose 3.4% in August. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index, which the Fed prefers as an inflation gauge, also rose 3.7% as of July, well above the Fed's target.
Kashkari argued, "No matter how we adjust interest rates, we cannot open the Strait of Hormuz or bring down oil prices." He added, "The inflation people feel every day goes beyond a simple rise in oil prices and is appearing across every part of the economy." He noted, "Inflation is also widespread across the services sector, for example, and we have the means to bring it back down." He further said, "I hope we can get help from government agencies or other parts of the real economy."
After concluding its regular Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on the 16th (local time), the Fed said in a statement that it had raised the federal funds rate by 0.25 percentage points, setting the annual target range at 3.75% to 4%. This was the first rate hike in three years and two months since July 2023. After cutting rates three consecutive times from September through December last year, the Fed kept them unchanged for five straight meetings this year.
The 12 FOMC members unanimously decided to raise interest rates at the meeting on the 16th. Kashkari was one of the 12 members who voted in favor. At the July FOMC meeting, he was one of three members who dissented, arguing for a rate hike when the Fed kept the federal funds rate unchanged.
  

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