Fed Governor Cook says she’s ‘prepared to act’ on rate hike to address inflation

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said Wednesday that she’s ready to support an interest rate hike unless the inflation numbers improve.

“Inflation is too high, and I consider the risks to the inflation side of the dual mandate higher than the risks to the employment side at this point,” Cook said during a speech in Anchorage, Alaska. “As such, I am prepared to act by raising rates, if necessary.”

While acknowledging that the June data showed inflation easing thanks largely to a sharp slide in energy prices, the policymaker said there shouldn’t be too much read into a single data point, particularly with the pace of price increases running well ahead of the Fed’s 2% goal.

Cook was part of a 9-3 majority that voted last week to keep the central bank’s benchmark borrowing rate in a range between 3.5%-3.75%. She explained that her vote came from a desire to see how possibly waning impacts from tariffs, an energy supply shock due to the Iran war and pressures from the artificial intelligence buildout impact prices.

“If I do not see signs of continued disinflation soon, I am prepared to act,” Cook said. “With five years of above-target inflation, the risk grows that higher inflation may become entrenched in price- and wage-setting behavior, leading to persistence that would be much harder for us to attack. The longer inflation is above target, the more likely this scenario becomes.”

Other environments might allow the Fed to wait longer before acting, but she said, “We do not have that luxury in this one.”

Markets expect the central bank could act as soon as September but are pricing in higher odds for an October move, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch. Earlier in the day, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, one of the three dissenting votes for the rate decision, told CNBC that he still believes higher rates are necessary.