February 16, 2024
United States:
Fed’s Bostic Says May Take ‘Some Time’ to Hit Rate-Cut Threshold
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said there’s no rush to cut interest rates with the US labor market and economy still strong, and cautioned it’s not yet clear that inflation is heading sustainably to the central bank’s 2% target.
“The evidence from data, our surveys, and our outreach says that victory is not clearly in hand, and leaves me not yet comfortable that inflation is inexorably declining to our 2% objective,” Bostic said in a speech Thursday in New York. “That may be true for some time, even if the January CPI report turns out to be an aberration.”
Europe:
ECB Must Be Careful Not to Cut Rates Too Soon, Schnabel Says
European Central Bank Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel warned again against lowering interest rates too early for fear that inflation will rebound.
In a speech in Florence, Italy, Schnabel said that monetary policy must remain restrictive until the ECB can be confident price gains will sustainably return to the 2% medium-term target.
Asia:
China Holiday Travel Surge Hints at Consumer Spending Pickup
A resurgence in travel over China’s Lunar New Year holiday is offering some signs of a consumer spending pickup in the world’s second-largest economy as it struggles with low confidence and deflation.
More than 61 million rail trips were made in the first six days of the national new year holiday, according to official reports. That was the highest in data compiled by Bloomberg News in the last five years, and it marked a 61% increase over the same vacation period in 2023.
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