(Reuters) – Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Patrick Harker said on Monday that he does not expect interest rates to rise until after the central bank is done tapering its asset purchases.
“I don’t expect that the federal funds rate will rise before the tapering is complete, but we are monitoring inflation very closely and are prepared to take action, should circumstances warrant it,” Harker said in remarks prepared for a virtual event organized by the Economic Club of New York.
The policymaker also said he expects inflation to moderate over the next year as supply demand imbalances caused by the pandemic are resolved, echoing a message shared by Fed officials last week when they announced they will begin to reduce the pace of asset purchases by $15 billion a month.
(Reporting by Jonnelle Marte; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
