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Fed's Waller: 75 bps hike at this meeting gets us to neutral

"I think it is plausible that we have a growth recession where it goes below longer-run average but doesn't go negative," Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

Additional takeaways

"For me, 75 bps hike at this meeting gets us to neutral."

"Recent jobs numbers are amazing figures."

"Inflation expectations data before next meeting will help shape my view on the size of hike needed at July meeting."

"Retail sales on Friday will show the level of strength in consumer spending."

"If we get a good report, that will tell me consumer demand is still strong and we can keep tightening."

"A large amount of excess savings still in US bank accounts."

"75 bps hike is my base case."

"We knew this inflation report would be ugly, but it was uglier than thought."

"You don't want to overdo rate hikes but if incoming data over the next two weeks shows me demand is still robust, I would lean into a higher rate hike."

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index edged lower after these comments and was last seen gaining 0.5% on the day at 108.55.

Author

Eren Sengezer

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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