Comments from New York Fed President William Dudley overnight.
I haven't seen them here, so just sticking the pertinent ones up now
As president of the NY Fed, Dudley is a big wheel at the Fed. The head of the NY Fed, for example, has a permanent vote on the FOMC, unlike the other regional offices, which rotate on and off.
Dudley's comments via the Wall Street Journal. there is nothing surprising in them. Bolding is mine:
- "Hopefully" the economic data will "support a decision to lift off later this year" ... but, "because the economic outlook is uncertain, I can't tell you when normalization will occur"
- "the timing is data dependent. We will have to see what unfolds"
- Raising rates "does not mean that U.S. monetary policy will be tight" after a rate-increase action
- "Growth prospects for the U.S. economy over the remainder of 2015 will improve," he said. "I expect that the first-quarter weakness will prove to be largely temporary."
- He said he expects growth to maintain the pace seen over the past two years, "supported by continued solid fundamentals and accommodative financial conditions." Mr. Dudley said if this happens, it could push what is currently a 5.5% jobless rate down to 5% by the end of the year.
- Expects wages to accelerate as well
- Acknowledged in his speech that the strong dollar has had an impact on the economy. Its rise "is making U.S. exports more expensive and imports more competitive". He said New York Fed economists believe what's been seen "would, all else equal, reduce growth of real [gross domestic product] by about 0.6 percentage point over this year."
- "I'd be very surprised that when normalization occurs, it will be a surprise to anyone"
- On the path of rate rises, "I don't think we know if it will predictable or unpredictable," but that said, actions the Fed takes are unlikely to mirror the slow mechanistic campaign seen over middle years of the last decade, he added.
