Douglas Rissing
Richmond Federal Reserve President Tom Barkin said the latest inflation reading has been "very encouraging," but noted that shelter and services inflation is "not quite there."
"We're clearly on the back side of inflation," he said during the MNI Webcast Q&A livestream on Tuesday, adding that headline inflation numbers are headed "exactly in the right direction."
Barkin said he didn't gain confidence in Q1 this year regarding inflation's progress, adding he needs to see "sustainment and broadening in disinflation" to be more confident of reaching 2% goal.
The Fed policymaker cautioned that choppiness in data since last year means the path ahead for policy is not clear. "We will learn a lot more over the next several months."
When asked about the Fed's Summary of Economic Projections released last year, in which it dialed back its rate cut outlook for 2024 to just one 25-basis-point reduction, Barkin said the SEP is not a promise or commitment. "I just see it as a forecast."
He added that scenarios of one rate cut and then a hold "may be sensible."