Fed's Plosser: Change to Policy Language Prevented His Dissent

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser said on Wednesday the reason he did not dissent at the U.S. central bank's last policy-setting meeting was because of the addition of "data-dependent" language to the Fed policy statement.

At its Oct. 28-29 meeting, the Fed decided to retain its guidance that overnight borrowing costs would remain near zero for a "considerable time," but noted it could move faster with an interest rate hike if incoming information indicated faster progress toward its goals.

Plosser said on Wednesday the addition of that language is what convinced him to approve the Fed's policy statement. Plosser dissented at the Fed's policy-setting meeting in September over the continued use of the "considerable time" reference.

"The phrase 'considerable time' has lost all meaning," Plosser said in response to a question at a Charlotte Economic Club luncheon in North Carolina.

(Reporting by Michael Flaherty; Editing by Paul Simao)