MNI BRIEF: Fed’s Barkin On March Rate Cut-Let’s See The Data

It’s too soon for Federal Reserve officials to consider whether it will be appropriate to start cutting interest rates in March as financial markets are currently anticipating, saying he needs to see how economic data play out in coming months, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin told reporters Thursday.

“I don’t prejudge meetings – certainly not the meeting after the next meeting,” he said. “What I’m looking for is conviction that inflation is coming back to our target. Let’s see how the data plays out.” (See MNI INTERVIEW: Fed To Ease Modestly In '24-Ex-NY Fed's Benigno)

Barkin said the latest CPI data did not alter his level of conviction that inflation is coming down.