New York Fed President John Williams maintained an optimistic outlook that price pressures would gradually ease, but stated that if they do not, he would not hesitate to raise interest rates to return prices to target levels. In a recent Reuters interview, President Williams said, "If energy prices and trade tariffs have already peaked and the economy maintains a robust trend, the main factors that have driven inflation over the past year and a half will no longer play a significant role," adding, "the disinflationary factors previously observed will come back into play." He emphasized, "I will be watching core inflation data very closely over the next few months to see if it converges with a 2% inflation rate," adding, "The current monetary policy stance is well-positioned to bring inflation back to target. If we are not on a path to bring inflation down to 2%, it is entirely appropriate to take action to correct that."
