Despite recent softness in economic data, especially inflation numbers, the Federal Reserve should continue to tighten monetary policy, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said in a televised interview Friday.
"We've learned over time we need to be pre-emptive and that means we have to be forward looking," Mester said in an interview on CNBC. "I want to reduce accommodation."
"I don't think we can wait until we can wait until inflation gets back up to 2%," she added, noting, "it's hard to forecast inflation," because "where inflation is today is not a very good forecast of where it's going tomorrow”
Despite recent weak numbers, Mester said she sees inflation returning to 2% “gradually.”
"Now that the economy back to normal, getting monetary policy back to normal I think is the appropriate thing to do," she said.
