Fed’s Waller supports 50 bps rate hikes for ‘several’ meetings

www.reuters.com/markets/us/feds-waller-supports-50-bps-rate-hikes-several-meetings-2022-05-30/

May 30 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve should raise interest rates by a half percentage point each time at more than its next two meetings, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday, underscoring tensions at the central bank about how aggressively to tighten policy as it battles to bring down high inflation.

“I support tightening policy by another 50 basis points for several meetings,” Waller said in prepared remarks to the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability in Frankfurt, Germany. “In particular, I am not taking 50 basis-point hikes off the table until I see inflation coming down closer to our 2 percent target.”

The Fed raised its benchmark policy rate by half a percentage point earlier this month, to a target range of between 0.75% and 1%, and plans further increases of the same size at its next two meetings in June and July.