Investing.com - Patrick Harker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and non-voting member of the FOMC, joined the hawkish camp on Thursday, saying he saw no need for additional stimulus.
Although Harker admitted that he did “somewhat reluctantly” support the 25-basis-point-cut back in July, he said that the Fed is “pretty much where we need to be” in an interview with CNBC.
"“We’re roughly where neutral is," Harker said. "I think we should stay here for a while and see how things play out.”
Harker argued that the Fed should do what is appropriate for the U.S. and that the recent yield curve inversion, which some economists take for a signal of imminent recession, is merely one signal among many.
"The labor markets are strong, inflation is moving up slowly - but with the last CPI print, it was a good print," he said.
He did admit that trade uncertainty was a headwind for the American economy and noted that he would be more concerned if trade tariffs kicked in and hit the American consumer.
His remarks come after the minutes from the July decision, released on Wednesday, revealed a wide division among policymakers. Esther George and Eric Rosengren both dissented from the July decision to cut rates for the first time in a decade, preferring to make no changes, while the minutes showed that “a couple” of the policymakers argued for a larger 50-basis-point cut.
Markets await Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium for clarity on the outlook for monetary policy.