New York Fed President John Williams said in speech that recent FOMC statement well summarized the current US economy, with the word “strong” appeared five times. And Fed “has attained its dual mandate objectives of maximum employment and price stability about as well as it ever has.” He added that “most indicators point to a very strong labor market” while “inflation is right on target:”
He expected fiscal stimulus and favorable financial conditions to provide “tailwinds” to the economy for more strong growth. He expected real GDP to grow by 3.0% in 2018 and 2.5% in 2019. Unemployment rate is expected to edge down to slightly below 3.% next year. Price inflation is expected to move up a bit above 2%. But he added that “I don’t see any signs of greater inflationary pressures on the horizon.”
Regarding removal of “accommodative” language in latest FOMC statement, Williams said “these more concise statements do not signify a shift in our monetary policy approach.” And, they just “represent the natural evolution of the language describing the factors influencing our policy decisions “. And the changes in communications are signs that Fed is “nearing the end of the process of normalizing monetary policy”.
