Fed Philadelphia Head Backs Idea of Additional Hikes if Inflation Intensifies in 2022

President Patrick Harker of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank revealed his stance in the event of aggravating inflation this year — enforce additional interest rate hikes.

The U.S. Federal Reserve had unveiled its plans last year to combat rising pandemic-induced inflation by implementing as many as three increases in interest rates in 2022. When the consumer prices in the U.S. surged to a 40-decade high in December, experts predicted the hikes to come into effect ahead of schedule in March.

Harker told the Financial Times of the Fed’s pressing need to take urgent action to stall demand as world economies continue to reel under supply chain woes. Fed Chair Jerome Powell had echoed the sentiment before Congress where he emphasized the need for a more stringent monetary policy to stave off a potential lingering of the current inflation.

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