President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Neel Kashkari, stated Friday that the central bank must follow through on its rate-raising guidance and balance-sheet reduction plans, which have already caused higher borrowing costs in the longer term. “At a minimum, the [Federal Open Market Committee] must follow through on the forward guidance of federal funds rate increases and balance sheet reduction that we have already signaled in order to validate the repricing that has taken place in financial markets,” Mr. Kashkari said in an essay published by his bank on Friday.
Mr. Kashkari’s comments follow the FOMC’s meeting this week, during which officials raised their target rate by a half percentage point and signaled more similar actions to come. Additionally, the Fed stated that it would gradually reduce its balance sheet beginning in June. As a result of the Fed’s actions and possible future moves, the inflation level will be lowered to 2%. At present, Mr. Kashkari is not a voting member of the FOMC. The Fed’s easy money policies have generally supported him, but he has joined his colleagues in advocating rate increases to bring inflation back to more acceptable levels.
