Alberto Musalem, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said on August 20 that while he has not yet decided what monetary policy steps he will recommend at the central bank’s strategy meeting next month, he indicated that raising rates is still justified by the current state of the economy.
Monetary policy is currently “accommodative,” and the inflation-adjusted federal funds rate target “is below the level that the committee believes should be the neutral long-run rate,” while “financial conditions here are fairly supportive,” Musalem said in an interview with CNBC. As for what actions he will call for at the September 15–16 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, Musalem noted that it will depend on the data.