Fed’s Clarida: employment test to begin bond taper all but met
Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida talks on the phone during the three-day “Challenges for Monetary Policy” conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, U.S., August 23, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Crosby
Oct 12 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve has all but met its employment goal to move ahead with reducing its bond buying program, Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida said on Tuesday, cementing expectations the central bank will start withdrawing its crisis-era stimulus as soon as next month.
“I myself believe that the ‘substantial further progress’ standard has more than been met with regard to our price-stability mandate and has all but been met with regard to our employment mandate,” Clarida said in prepared remarks to the Institute of International Finance virtual annual meeting, as he repeated that the Fed at its last meeting agreed tapering “may soon be warranted.”
Clarida’s upbeat assessment likely echoes the sentiments of his boss,…
