Data dependent: Fed governor Christopher Waller at a conference in California. Waller says the pace and extent of rate cuts this year will depend on inflation data. — Reuters
WASHINGTON: The reality of President-elect Donald Trump’s election victory on a platform of aggressive tariffs and deportation of some immigrants landed hard at the US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) meeting last month, with US central bank officials raising new inflation concerns and staff suggesting the incoming administration’s plans may slow economic growth and raise unemployment.
Amid an otherwise sanguine outlook of continually slowing inflation, participants at the Dec 17-18 meeting “noted that recent higher-than-expected readings on inflation, and the effects of potential changes in trade and immigration policy, suggested that the process could take longer than previously anticipated,” according to minutes of that session released on Wednesday.
