Next year's FOMC new voting member takes the lead in "going hawkish": interest rates should be frozen until spring, inflation remains a major concern

Beth Hammack, president of the Cleveland Fed, stated that after the Federal Reserve's consecutive interest rate cuts in the past three meetings, she sees no need for any adjustments in the coming months.

Hammack opposes the recent rate cuts due to her concerns about persistently high inflation, which outweigh her worries about potential vulnerabilities in the labor market—concerns that have led officials to cut rates by a cumulative 0.75 percentage points over the past few months. Hammack is not a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year but will gain voting rights next year.

Hammack hinted that the Fed does not need to adjust its current benchmark rate, which is in the range of 3.5% to 3.75%, at least until next spring. She stated that by then, the Fed will be better able to assess whether recent inflation in commodity prices is subsiding as the impact of tariffs is more fully digested in the supply chain. (Jin Shi)