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2025-11-01 01:45:29
Four Federal Reserve officials expressed caution regarding excessive rate cuts on Friday. This explains why Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated in the post-policy press conference that a December rate cut was not "a certainty." At Wednesday's meeting, only Kansas City Fed President Schmid voted against the 25-basis-point rate cut, explaining in his Friday statement that this stemmed from concerns about sticky inflation. Two other non-voting officials—Cleveland Fed President Hammark and Dallas Fed President Logan—also hinted at opposing the rate cut if they had voting rights. Hammark stated directly that he was concerned the rate cut deviated too far from the tightening stance aimed at curbing inflation: "We must maintain a certain level of restraint to bring inflation back to our target." Atlanta Fed President Bostic, who also has no voting rights this year, supported the 25-basis-point rate cut but emphasized that it was contingent on a firm policy stance remaining tight. Bostic specifically pointed out that with persistent and stubborn inflation across the economy, each rate cut makes the rationale for further easing less clear, as interest rates are gradually approaching a neutral level that is unlikely to effectively curb price increases.
