Washington

With a strong economy, the Federal Reserve no longer needs to provide policy accommodation, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said financial markets have gotten the message on the U.S. central bank’s plan for gradual interest-rate increases and “should not be surprised” by its actions.

Jessica Kane's appointment as director of the Office of Credit Ratings suggests that Rebecca Olsen could remain acting or become permanent chief of the Office of Municipal Securities.

The Federal Reserve’s policy-making panel is about to get a hawkish mid-year reshuffle.

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said the central bank can accommodate an overshoot of its inflation target and he isn’t worried by the impact of oil prices rising past $70 a barrel.

Lorie Logan, a senior vice president at the New York Fed, said that she saw “virtually no chance of going back to the pre-crisis balance sheet size of $800 billion.’’

The expected GFOA guidance will come as governmental units prepare to meet a Jan. 1, 2020 deadline set by the Government Accounting Standards Board for treating all leases as financings for the right to use an underlying asset.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's newest model documents incorporate months of experience with the year-old issue price regulations, which most issuers think are working well.

Issuers and the MSRB are mostly on the same page about primary offering practices that may warrant scrutiny, but some members of the GFOA's debt committee are concerned about "regulatory creep."

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.