Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester speaking. Mester is a voter this year on the FOMC, and dissented from the 'hold' decision at the September meeting (she was one of the three dissenters).
- Wanted September rate hike due to Fed's progress on jobs and inflation mandate and expectation of further progress
- Not raising rates risks steeper policy path later on, which could cause recession
- Raising rates now will prolong US economic expansion
- Policymakers should not discard past, think this time 'completely different'
- Says fundamentals of US economy remain sound
- US economy has shown it is resilient to shocks
- Says she expects US economic growth at or above 2 pct the next two years, inflation to return to 2 pct target
- Says expects weak business investment to pick up with further US economic growth
- Says labor market at full employment, expects it to continue to tighten
Headlines via Reuters. These from the text of her prepared remarks.
