Federal Reserve Governor Waller downplays the threat of "energy inflation," while the Federal Reserves remains firmly focused on core indicators

Svmuu News Federal Reserve Board member Waller stated that he does not believe the war in Iran will have a lasting impact on inflation. He noted that while consumers may experience a “price shock” due to rising gasoline prices, policymakers will look past any one-off price increases."For our consideration of future policy, this is unlikely to lead to sustained inflation," Waller said in an interview on Friday. "That is also one of the reasons we do not focus on energy prices. When we look at core measures, they are better predictors of future inflation." He was referring to inflation measures that exclude the more volatile energy and food prices.Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged for the second consecutive time when policymakers meet on March 17–18. Given that the labor market is stabilizing and inflation remains above the 2% target, officials have signaled that they can be patient in considering further rate cuts. (Jin Shi)