{"id":120860,"date":"2021-09-03T08:32:45","date_gmt":"2021-09-03T08:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=120860"},"modified":"2021-09-03T08:32:45","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T08:32:45","slug":"fed-likely-to-announce-taper-in-november-former-fed-official-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/business\/fed-likely-to-announce-taper-in-november-former-fed-official-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Fed likely to announce taper in November, former Fed official says"},"content":{"rendered":"
(Reuters) – omThe U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to announce the tapering of its asset purchases in November and begin the process a month later, former Federal Reserve official Dennis Lockhart said on Thursday.<\/p> Waiting until November will give policymakers more data on the labor market\u2019s recovery and economic growth, Lockhart told the Reuters Global Markets Forum (GMF).<\/p>\n But Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed from 2007 to 2017, warned \u201ca particularly bad next two months\u201d could postpone this timeline.<\/p>\n The Fed\u2019s September meeting will be the first since the Jackson Hole symposium where Chairman Jerome Powell only said tapering could be \u201cthis year.\u201d<\/p>\n Fed policymakers will also release their summary of economic projections at the September meeting, which Lockhart said they may want to get \u201cout of the way\u201d before giving a taper schedule.<\/p>\n The economic projections \u201ccould present a picture not entirely consistent with the tapering decision in some respects,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Lockhart was \u201cagnostic\u201d on the route the central bank might take to unwind its $120 billion worth of monthly bond purchases — whether by following the post-Great Recession playbook and first cutting back Treasury purchases, or leading with mortgage-backed securities to calm a red-hot housing market.<\/p>\n Lockhart believes financial markets should absorb tapering without much volatility, but that the Fed should worry about persistent market unrest if it spills into the real economy.<\/p>\n Lockhart, currently Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, sees inflation as transitory \u201cfor now\u201d.<\/p>\n These price pressures could last through 2022, making it vital to manage inflation expectations, he said.<\/p>\n Despite some calls for the Fed to focus more on green policies, Lockhart believes the central bank\u2019s current mandate should not be changed.<\/p>\n Two policymakers told GMF the onus of promoting green investments reut.rs\/3kvgWhj should lie with governments and not central banks reut.rs\/3DARRdA.<\/p>\n Lockhart also noted that the Fed was serious in addressing inequality, particularly employment among women and minorities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe \u201cinclusion\u201d word … signals an important change in the (Fed\u2019s) mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n (This interview was conducted in the Reuters Global Markets Forum, a chat room hosted on the Refinitiv Messenger platform. Sign up here to join GMF: refini.tv\/33uoFoQ)<\/p>\n