Kashkari: US Inflation Remains Too High Despite Rate Hike

Neel Kashkari, the president of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, expressed concerns about inflation in the US economy. He stated that even if energy and food prices are stripped out, inflation remains too high.

Kashkari supported the recent interest rate hike to 3.75%-4.00%, which was a unanimous decision among Fed officials last week. However, he was one of three who dissented at the prior meeting when the majority opted to leave rates unchanged.

The current inflation target is 2%, and Kashkari emphasized that the Fed's job is to get inflation back down to this target. He acknowledged that interest rates cannot directly address oil price volatility, which has been affected by the Middle East war.