• Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said central bank officials are ready to lower interest rates as needed but emphasized there’s no urgent need to cut given the strength of the economy.
• “There is no imminent risk to the economy faltering,” Daly said Thursday on Bloomberg Television’s Wall Street Week with David Westin, pointing to the labor market, consumer spending and economic growth. “We are ready to make moves and adjust as the data demands us to do.”
• Daly said Fed officials wants to avoid keeping rates at their current level all the way until the inflation rate hits 2%, noting such an action could cause an unnecessary economic downturn.
• “It would be appropriate as inflation comes down to bring the nominal rate of interest down to make sure we’re not holding on even tighter,” Daly said. “We want to avoid holding on all the way to 2%, putting policy very tight and then cause an unnecessary downturn.”