File photo dated Jan. 22, 2008 showing the US Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC., USA. Matthew Cavannaugh, EPA-EFE/File
WASHINGTON — A senior Federal Reserve official tapped for the number two position at the US central bank said that pausing interest-rate hikes would give the Fed time to weigh additional economic data.
"Skipping a rate hike at a coming meeting would allow the Committee to see more data before making decisions about the extent of additional policy firming," Fed governor Philip Jefferson told a conference in Washington in prepared remarks.
The Federal Reserve has raised interest-rates 10 times since it began an aggressive campaign to tackle inflation and bring it back down to its long-run target of two percent.
Fed officials are now divided on the best path forward ahead of another interest-rate decision to be announced on June 14, with some in favor of continuing to hike and others coming out in support of a pause.
Jefferson added that "a decision to hold our policy rate constant at a coming meeting should not be interpreted to mean that we have reached the peak rate for this cycle," suggesting he did not think the Fed was necessarily done with interest-rate hikes going forward.
With two weeks before the next rate decision is announced, futures traders now assign a greater-than 60 percent chance that the Fed will follow through with another interest-rate hike on June 14, according to data from CME Group.
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