Fed’s Brainard: soon appropriate to slow pace of rate hikes

(Reuters) -It will soon be appropriate for the Federal Reserve to reduce the pace of its interest rates hikes, Fed Vice Chair Lael Brainard said on Monday.

“I think it will probably be appropriate soon to move to a slower pace of increases, but I think what’s really important to emphasize is… we have additional work to do,” Brainard said in an interview with Bloomberg in Washington.

The Fed raised its policy rate early this month to a range of 3.75%-4%, its fourth straight 75-basis-point interest-rate hike, as it seeks to bring down inflation that’s running more than three times the Fed’s 2% target.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signaled that the central bank’s next move may be smaller to give time to judge how the rapid rate hikes so far this year are affecting the economy.

But he also signaled the policy rate may next year peak at a rate higher than the 4.6% level that most policymakers had expected in September.

Brainard echoed that view.

“It makes sense to move to a more deliberate and a more data dependent pace as we continue to make sure that there’s restraint that will bring inflation down over time,” she said.

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