Fed’s Esther George: Recession Depends on Pandemic State

President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas, Esther George, said on Wednesday that the COVID-19 recession in the United States could reoccur if the pandemic intensifies.

“An important risk to that outlook is thinking about what happens as we come into the fall, whether we see any resurgence in the virus that would cause an additional pullback in the economy.”

 “Financial conditions are very accommodative. We have low rates, we still have capacity in those credit facilities.”

“So I think it is too soon to try to speculate on whatever else might be needed, other than to say the Federal Reserve is going to be very vigilant on that and be prepared to respond if they would have to.”

“We’ll monitor that carefully to see whether that plays out,” she said in an interview with CNBC.