Federal Reserve Governor Barr said that recalibrating interest rates to curb inflation following last week's rate hike was an important step, and that at least 2 more rate hikes would likely be needed by year-end.
In prepared remarks, Governor Barr said that “risks to achieving the inflation target had increased, while risks to the labor market had receded,” and added that the Federal Reserve would likely need to make further policy adjustments.
He said that the U.S. economy continued to show strong growth and that the labor market remained robust, but inflation remained above the 2% target and was not clearly trending lower.
Most of the speech was devoted to housing affordability issues, and Governor Barr said that at least 2 more rate hikes might be needed by year-end.