Williams sees 2-3 more Fed rate hikes this year

A total of 3-4 rate hikes this year remains viable, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams said in a televised interview Friday.

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John Williams, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, speaks during a news conference following an event at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Monday, Sept. 28, 2015. Williams, who repeated his view that the decision at the September Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) to keep rates on hold was a "close call," cautioned that he was beginning to detect risks of market imbalances, noting that house prices were rising rapidly, though they had not yet reached "tipping point." Photographer: Kevork Djansezian/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** John Williams

Pointing to the latest Summary of Economic projections, issued in March, Williams said the “central tendency” expecting three to four hikes this year remains valid, with one already in the books.

Noting the Fed’s decisions are data-dependent, Williams said on CNBC, “with the economy continuing to grow above trend, with job growth continuing to be good, with inflation numbers really getting close to our 2% goal, the right thing to think is we’re going to continue the gradual process of moving interest rates up.”

The most recent Fed statement used the work symmetric twice regarding inflation. Williams said, “2% is the midpoint” and he’d be “comfortable” overshooting that target for “a while” because it’s symmetric.

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Monetary policy John Williams Federal Reserve Federal Reserve Bank of New York Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco FOMC
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