Cleveland's Mester: Won't Prejudge Dec FOMC Outcome

Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks on Bloomberg Television, saying that she sees Fed policy as being in a 'good place', despite her concern about as slowing economy amid rising COVID cases and the lack of fiscal policy aid.

• While she says the Fed will use all its tools to keep monetary policy "very accommodative", she says that it is not clear to her that monetary easing is the right tool to address the situation, and that what the economy needs is fiscal assistance.
• As such, she says she will not prejudge the outcome of the December FOMC meeting.
• For context, Mester's an FOMC voter this year. She said last month that she was 'comfortable' with where the Fed was on fwd guidance and asset purchases, but also said at the time 'I can imagine wanting to shift to longer-term Treasuries'.
• As such, while her comments certainly suggest she may not be the most vociferous voice in favor of easing action at next month's meeting, she may be willing to go along with some changes to current policy were they to otherwise see wide support (for instance extending the duration of Tsy purchases, which appears to be one of the options on the table).