Recent comments from FOMC participants on the forward guidance and the appropriate timing of the first hike of the fed funds rate suggest, Goldman warns, a greater clustering of FOMC participants’ views around a mid-2015 ‘liftoff’ in rates. Similarly, private sector forecasts for the first hike are becoming more centered on mid-2015 rather than August to September.
Via Goldman Sachs,
In today’s note, we review recent comments from FOMC participants on the forward guidance and the appropriate timing of the first hike of the funds rate in advance of next week’s September meeting.
With respect to the forward guidance, both Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren expressed discomfort with the FOMC’s current calendar guidance last week. President Mester expressed concern with the FOMC statement’s guidance “that it likely will be appropriate to maintain the current target range for the federal funds rate for a considerable time after the asset purchase program ends,” which Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser dissented against at the July meeting. She argued that the forward guidance should instead be calibrated to distance from the Fed’s goals and the speed at which progress is being achieved. President Rosengren likewise argued that as the economy approaches full employment, the Fed should stop providing calendar guidance.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on 09/12/2014.
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