Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker said yesterday he’s in the camp that believes it will “soon be time” to start tapering asset purchases “begin slowly and methodically — frankly, boringly”.
He added that FOMC can then evaluate interest rates after tapering is complete. “I wouldn’t expect any hikes to interest rates until late next year or early 2023, unless the inflation picture changes dramatically,” he said.
Harker expects the economy to grow by 5.5% this year and 3.5% next. Inflation is expected to be around 4% for 2021, “a bit over” 2% in 2022, and “right at” 2% in 2023.
