WASHINGTON, May 7 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said on Thursday that she hears concerns from businesses that an inflationary mindset is starting to become entrenched and needs to keep an open mind about the Fed’s next policy move.
Hammack, who dissented at the Fed’s most recent meeting on its decision to maintain language implying that its next move would be a rate cut, said that a series of temporary price shocks, from COVID-19 to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the current Iran war, has kept the Fed from reaching its 2% inflation target for more than five years.
“What I hear when I’m out with businesses is I hear concern that an inflationary mindset is starting to become entrenched in people’s minds,” Hammack told the Ohio CEO Summit in Columbus. “I hear about the pain of inflation when I’m out talking to individuals.”
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
