Monetary policy

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said he supports the central bank’s plan to raise interest rates in half-percentage-point steps at coming meetings.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said no one should doubt the U.S. central bank’s resolve to curb the highest inflation in decades, including pushing rates into restrictive territory if needed.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the current Fed leaders were too slow to react to surging U.S. inflation and as a result face a period of stagflation, or a combination of stagnant growth and high inflation.

“Unless there are some big surprises, I expect it to be appropriate to raise the policy rate another 50 basis points at each of our next two meetings,” Mester said Friday.

The Senate voted to confirm Jerome Powell for a second four-year term as Federal Reserve chair on Thursday, trusting him to tackle the highest inflation to confront the country in decades.

During his confirmation hearing, Jefferson’s experience and commitment to follow the Fed’s limited mandates had earned Republican plaudits, while Democrats have praised his research on poverty and the diversity he’ll add to the board.

Logan, 49, currently oversees implementation of the Fed’s monetary policy as manager of the Fed’s $9 trillion securities portfolio and executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where she has led Market Operations, Monitoring and Analysis since 2012.

Mohamed El-Erian, a closely followed bond-market strategist, says the Federal Reserve has a trust problem with financial markets and the nation over inflation.

The U.S. economy will probably fall into a recession as the Federal Reserve combats multidecade-high inflation, Randal Quarles, the Fed’s former vice chair for supervision, said.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown said Wednesday that the Senate would wait to confirm President Biden’s Federal Reserve picks until the return of Democrats recovering from the coronavirus.

Lael Brainard was confirmed as vice chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors Tuesday in a 52-43 Senate vote, the first of four central bank nominees set for consideration by the chamber.

A trio of COVID-19 cases among Democrats is expected to delay Senate plans to confirm Federal Reserve nominee Lisa Cook and Federal Trade Commission nominee Alvaro Bedoya this week.

Joe Manchin, a key Democrat in the U.S. Senate, said he’s spoken to Michael Barr, President Joe Biden’s choice to be the U.S. Federal Reserve chief banking supervisor, and so far doesn’t see a problem with his nomination.

Details on how officials expect to proceed are expected to be revealed on Wednesday when the Fed publishes minutes of its March 15-16 meeting.

Outflows continued, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting investors shed $1.503 billion from municipal bond mutual funds in the week, following outflows of $2.136 billion in the previous week. High-yield saw small inflows.

Scott Colbert, executive vice president and chief economist at Commerce Trust Co., will discuss the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision and where they go from here.

The U.S. Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates higher than officials are currently projecting if it is to wrestle inflation back under control, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said he won’t back President Joe Biden’s nominee for the Federal Reserve vice chair of supervision, Sarah Bloom Raskin — likely dooming her confirmation in the Senate given Republican opposition.

Sarah Bloom Raskin’s nomination to be Federal Reserve vice chair of supervision has taken another hit as key Senate Democrat Joe Manchin suggested President Joe Biden’s other four central bank nominees move forward without her.

Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said the central bank should increase interest rates to close to its “neutral” setting this year, implying as many as seven quarter-point hikes.