00:00Federal Reserve officials shared on Thursday their ongoing concerns about the U.S. inflation landscape
00:05as central bankers gather in Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the Kansas City Fed's closely-watched annual economic symposium.
00:12Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Smith said on CNBC on the sidelines of the conference that inflation is still stubborn.
00:21He noted that the U.S. central bank's current policy rate, which was left in the 3.5% to
00:263.75% range at the July 28-29 meeting, did not appear to be restrictive.
00:32Schmid, who had recently been in favour of raising rates to help bring inflation back down to the Fed's 2
00:37% target,
00:38seemed to suggest that he would still favour such a path, given his belief that monetary policy is not working
00:44to counter current price pressures.
00:46But even so, when asked about the outlook for a rate hike at the Fed's September 15-16 policy meeting,
00:51he said the Fed needs further information on demand-side and what's dripping both growth and inflation.
00:57Cleveland Fed President Beth Hamak, also speaking on CNBC, was similarly anxious about inflation
01:03and reiterated her ongoing willingness to act to bring price pressures back in line.
01:08Hamak, one of the three Fed officials who dissented at last month's meeting in favour of rate hike,
01:13said inflation has been above target for more than five years and monetary policy is not doing anything at the
01:19moment
01:19to restrain the economy in order to lower price pressures.
01:23The annual Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium opened on Thursday,
01:26where Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Walsh is scheduled to deliver a closely watched speech on Friday.
01:32Inversors will be looking for clues about the outlook for U.S. interest rates and inflation,
01:37although expectations for explicit policy guidance are limited given Walsh reluctance to provide forward guidance on future rate decisions.
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