Economics
Another Fed Official Backs Rates at Zero Until Inflation Tops 2%
- Harker joins Brainard in tying liftoff to Fed inflation goal
- Philadelphia Fed president speaks in Bloomberg TV interview
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The U.S. central bank should consider holding interest rates near zero until inflation is above its 2% target, said Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, echoing his colleague Lael Brainard and signaling a consensus may be building among policy makers.
“We’ve been saying for a long time that the 2% inflation goal is symmetric, which means we should overshoot it. We were having a difficult time doing that, like all developed economies,” Harker said Wednesday during a Bloomberg Television interview with Michael McKee. “I’m supportive of the idea of letting inflation get above 2% before we take any action with respect to the fed funds rate.”