John Williams

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said it's too early for officials to begin thinking about cutting rates as soon as March as they consider whether policy is restrictive enough to get inflation back to 2%.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said forecasts officials submitted in December are still a good guide for where interest rates are headed this year and that policy may need to stay at restrictive levels for a few years to get inflation down.

Federal Reserve officials, picking up where they left off over the weekend in Jackson Hole, stressed their commitment to defeating inflation while remaining vague on how big their policy move will be next month.

Federal Reserve officials will discuss whether to raise rates by 50 basis points or 75 basis points when they meet next month, with the decision being determined by economic data, New York Fed President John Williams said on Tuesday.

Most participants expect better performance for munis in the near-term. Longer-term, a lot depends on rates, COVID and other outside factors, such as infrastructure.

A discussion about raising interest rates is still quite a ways off as the Federal Reserve begins debating tapering its bond-buying program, New York Fed President John Williams said.

Rising Treasury yields are a sign of optimism in the economic recovery, said a senior Federal Reserve official Friday, signaling no inclination from the central bank to take steps to halt the shift.

The Federal Reserve is in no hurry to taper its massive bond buying program, Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program is serving its purpose well at the moment, though the central bank could adjust the parameters if needed, New York Fed President John Williams said.

The latest wave of COVID-19 outbreaks in the U.S. may weigh on economic growth in the coming months, Federal Reserve Bank of New York John Williams said.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said policy makers are “thinking very hard” about targeting specific yields on Treasury securities as a way of ensuring borrowing costs stay at rock-bottom levels beyond keeping the benchmark interest rate near zero.

Numbers in the fall will offer clearer picture of where economy is.

Fed officials also talk about the muni liquidity facility and efforts to help the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Fed officials repeated their contention that monetary policy is appropriate and rates can be held if the outlook remains as expected, the situation with Iran could cause preemptive cuts, one noted economist suggests.

The U.S. and the rest of the industrial world may have to resign themselves to an extended period of slow economic growth, subdued inflation and low interest rates. The trick will be in avoiding something even worse.

The economy should continue its moderate growth path, inflation may tick up, downside risks seem to have been put at bay by the Federal Reserve, and rates are likely to stay where they are, experts say.

Nonfarm productivity slipped, the Labor Department reported Wednesday, a day when comments from Fed presidents suggested cuts are done for now.

The U.S. economy is growing slower than it has in the past couple of years, and conditions may get worse in the next few quarters, according to Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard.

With the markets expecting rate cuts to continue, the Federal Reserve won't commit to further action before meeting later this month.

With the neutral rate of interest rate extremely low, New York Fed President John Williams suggested the keys are acting quickly and keeping rates lower longer.