Fed’s Bullard: Keep interest rates where they are
St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard on Friday said to keep interest rates where they are.
“I haven’t penciled that in,” said Bullard when asked about rate cuts next year during an exclusive interview with FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence. “I’m happy just to say that we’ll keep rates where they are and we’ll see how the economy evolves going forward. I’m sure something will happen maybe it will surprise the upside or maybe to the downside.”
Federal Reserve policmakers, reaffirmed their “patient” stance on interest rates in Fed minutes from their Jan. 29-30 meeting released on Wednesday, but gave no hints on how long their posture would last.
At the end of its first two-day policy meeting of 2019, the Fed announced that it would keep the federal funds rate in a range between 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent. The decision came on the heels of four rate hikes in 2018, the last one coming in December.
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Bullard, who is a voting member of the FOMC this year, also expressed concern about the flattening yield curve towards the end of the year, but doesn’t expect a recession.