Fed’s Logan: Policy near neutral, inflation risks still skewed to the upside

Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan said that the labor market is stabilizing, with downside risks dissipating. She added that the economic activity has rebounded strongly, at the FIA-SIFMA Asset Management Derivatives Forum in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday.

Key takeaways

The real Federal funds rate now sits squarely within the range of neutral rate estimates.

The current policy stance may be very close to neutral, providing little restrain.

Inflation has been above the 2% target for nearly five years.

Not fully confident inflation is heading all the way back to 2%.

More concerned about inflation remaining stubbornly high than downside growth risks.

Economic activity has rebounded strongly.

The labor market is stabilizing, with downside risks meaningfully dissipated.

Last year’s rate cuts were insurance against labor market cooling, despite added inflation risk.

Expects progress on inflation this year, citing tentative signs.

Cautiously optimistic current policy can bring inflation to 2% while sustaining a balanced labor market.

If inflation falls and the labor market stays stable, no further rate cuts will be needed.

Rate cuts could be appropriate if there is material further cooling in the labor market.

Calls for central clearing of the Fed’s standing repo operations.”

US Dollar Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.

USD EUR GBP JPY CAD AUD NZD CHF
USD 0.17% 0.34% -0.93% -0.07% 0.36% 0.24% 0.18%
EUR -0.17% 0.17% -1.08% -0.24% 0.20% 0.07% 0.01%
GBP -0.34% -0.17% -1.26% -0.38% 0.03% -0.09% -0.15%
JPY 0.93% 1.08% 1.26% 0.86% 1.30% 1.17% 1.11%
CAD 0.07% 0.24% 0.38% -0.86% 0.43% 0.31% 0.25%
AUD -0.36% -0.20% -0.03% -1.30% -0.43% -0.12% -0.18%
NZD -0.24% -0.07% 0.09% -1.17% -0.31% 0.12% -0.06%
CHF -0.18% -0.01% 0.15% -1.11% -0.25% 0.18% 0.06%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).

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