MNI BRIEF: Mester Says Fed Likely Has Some More Work To Do

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said Friday economic growth has been stronger than anticipated since her June forecasts and inflation is falling but is still too high, meaning "we probably have some more work to do." In June she had penciled in a peak fed funds rate of 5.5%-5.75% through the end of 2024.

"We don't want to overtighten, we don't want to undershoot," she said in an interview with CNBC. "It's a question of do we need to move higher? The second question is: How long do we need to have restrictive policy before we're assured that inflation is moving back down to our 2% goal."

"It was very good to see the recent [inflation] numbers but we need a couple more of those readings to be assured," Mester said. (See: MNI INTERVIEW: Fed Right To Stay Open To More Hikes-Obstfeld)