Fed’s Barkin: Monetary Policy is Based on Outcomes not Projections

The United States could see strong economic growth for a number of years, supported by consumers spending excess savings that made during the pandemic, President of the Federal Reserve of Richmond Tom Barkin told Reuters.

Barkin reportedly refused to discuss in more detail his expectations for interest rates and bond buying by the Fed, saying that the Fed wants to base its policy on outcomes, not forecasts.

However, he believes that it is possible for substantial progress towards the Fed’s employment and inflation goals to be achieved in 2021.

“It is pretty straightforward for me to imagine we are going to make substantial further progress on the pricing front.”

“I would like to hope we have a pretty strong spring and summer,” Barkin said when asked about achieving full employment.

“There are various outcomes that I would eagerly embrace as opportunities to begin the process of normalization. There are outcomes I would eagerly embrace the need to wait.”