WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy is still on track for the Federal Reserve to begin reducing its massive monthly bond buys in October or soon after, Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said on Thursday as he downplayed the impact of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
“Based on everything I am seeing I don’t see anything at this point that would cause me to materially change my outlook,” Kaplan said in an interview with CNBC. “Based on all that it would continue to be my view that when we get to the September meeting we would be well served to announce a plan for adjusting purchases and begin to execute that plan in October or shortly thereafter.”
Last week Kaplan had appeared more nervous about the potential impact of the Delta variant on the economy but added on Thursday that his business contacts are telling him they are “weathering” Delta at least as well as previous surges.
(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
