A Top Fed Official Casts Further Doubt on a Rate Rise This Month

The prospects that the Federal Reserve will deliver a second straight interest rate increase this month dimmed further on Thursday after a top official joined other central bank policymakers in suggesting that they have flexibility in determining the timing of subsequent moves.

Christopher J. Waller, a Fed governor, emphasized in a speech on Thursday that the Fed still had more work to do to bring inflation back to its 2 percent target after nearly six years of overshooting it. Mr. Waller endorsed “additional hikes” to support a speedier retreat to that level, but he did not convey an immediate urgency.

“If the economic data continue to come in as expected, I anticipate additional hikes to support a timelier return of inflation to our 2 percent goal,” Mr. Waller said in a speech at an event in Istanbul. “But there is some flexibility about when those hikes will occur.”

He added that further moves to raise borrowing costs “do not need to come at consecutive meetings, but they should be in place in an acceptable period of time.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/business/federal-reserve-christopher-waller-rates.html