Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said, “all of the economic fallout has been a function of how we’ve responded to the public health crisis… Making a forecast about this year is really at its heart a forecast of how well the vaccine is going to penetrate into the population so we’re at a place where we don’t have to be so cautious about how we do our economic activity.”
Though, he added, “there is some possibility that the economy could come back a bit stronger than some are expecting… If that happens, I’m prepared to support pulling back and recalibrating a bit of our accommodation and then considering moving the policy rate.”
“But I don’t see that happening in 2021. A whole lot would have to happen to get us there,” he said. “Then we’ll see into 2022. Maybe the second half of 2022 or even 2023 where that might be more in play.”
