NY Fed's Williams warns rate hikes are on the table if inflation doesn't ease

Williams said he expects inflation to fall in the second half of 2026, but the Fed will act if it stays above its 2% target

EXCLUSIVE: Fed's Williams expects inflation to ease, says Fed will act if it doesn't  Reuters

"The longer that high inflation persists, the more challenging and costly it can be to bring it back down," said Beth Hammack, one of the dissenters.

Federal Reserve officials who voted this week against the decision to hold interest rates steady said Friday they favor hiking now as a way to stave off inflation."In my view, now is the time for the [Federal Open Market Committee] to act to speed the return of PCE inflation to our 2 percent objective and deliver on ou

The Tokyo consumer price index is considered a leading indicator for nationwide price trends.

The Federal Reserve voted to hold interest rates unchanged in a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, with some officials dissenting in favor of raising rates by a quarter percentage point. The vote was 9-3. Bloomberg's Michael McKee reports. (Source: Bloomberg)