Kashkari says Fed well-placed to take its time ahead of rate cut

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said the central bank is in a good position to take its time and watch incoming data before starting to cut interest rates.

“We need to see more evidence to convince us that inflation is well on our way back down to 2%,” Kashkari said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation. “We’re in a very good position right now to take our time, get more inflation data, get more data on the economy, on the labor market, before we make any decisions.”

Fed policymakers last week lowered their projections for rate cuts this year to one, from three estimated in March. They’ve cautioned they need to gain more confidence that inflation is slowing to the 2% target before starting to ease policy, especially after progress stalled earlier this year.

If there is just one rate cut this year, it would likely come toward the end of the year, Kashkari said.

On the morning of the Fed’s decision, data showed underlying consumer price growth, which strips out the volatile food and energy categories, decelerated for a second straight month.