Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic pushed back against market hopes for a near-term rate cut in July, saying he remains cautious about inflation and sees little urgency to ease policy.
In an interview with Reuters, Bostic said he would prefer to hold rates in a restrictive zone “for longer just to be absolutely sure” inflation returns sustainably to the 2% target. While others have floated the possibility of a cut in July, Bostic said “I would see the last quarter is sort of when I would expect we would know enough to move.”
Bostic acknowledged that tariff-related risks have not yet materialized into a “doomsday scenario”, thanks to business adaptability. He said executives have grown more confident in managing price pressures, and are already preparing to raise prices in phases as a response to higher input costs.
That business strategy, he argued, is one of the key reasons he remains wary of easing too early, fearing that inflation momentum could persist. “They tell me ‘I’m pretty sure I am going to have to raise my prices. The question is not whether but when,'” he emphasized.
