Chicago Fed Charles Evans, a clearly known dove, expressed his optimism that inflation will hit 2% target and support for gradual rate hike on Saturday. He pointed to fiscal policy that “has been much more supportive of further growth”. Hence, “the need for accommodative monetary policy is less than it was before.”
And, now, given the “very strong” national economy and labor market, he would be surprised is inflation couldn’t meet target. Evans added, “continuing our slow, gradual increases will be appropriate to get us to the point where monetary policy isn’t really providing more lift to the economy.”