Fed's Williams: I expect interest rates to stay there until inflation is subdued

New York Fed President John Williams said he expects interest rates to continue rising and remain at those levels until inflation is subdued. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Williams emphasized that he is among those who believe interest rates should remain high until inflation comes down. “We need to have a restrictive policy for a while,” Williams said. “This is not a policy that we will implement for a very short period of time and then change course,” he said. Williams, who did not provide information on how far he wants to see interest rates go, stated that he believes real interest rates need to be positive in order to reduce inflation. The Fed’s current policy rate is between 2.25-2.50 percent and the core PCE, which it takes into account to measure inflation, was 4.6 percent in July. Fed/Bostic: Progress in reducing inflation allows for slowing rate hikes Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said that future data showing that inflation is slowing will allow him to support a lower rate hike than the 75 basis point rate hikes the Fed has made in the last two meetings. Bostic said, "If the data clearly shows that inflation is slowing, it could give us reason to support a rate hike of less than the 75 basis points that the FOMC made at its last meeting." However, Bostic said that the Fed will not be able to end rate hikes without bringing inflation towards its 2 percent target, and emphasized that even if higher unemployment rates are seen for a while, rate hikes will not stop. "This summer, the data showed glimmers of good news in the fight against inflation," Bostic said, adding, "The key word here is glimmer. It is clearly too early to declare victory on inflation."