A U.S. central bank official said Thursday that he would support an interest rate hike above 5.4% in the coming months if inflation does not slow more quickly and the labor market remains tight, AFP reported.

Christopher Waller, who is one of the heads of the monetary institution, distinguishes between two scenarios for the next meeting of the Fed, March 21 and 22, and subsequent meetings.

In an optimistic scenario where “job creation slows down” and inflation “declines significantly (…) and resumes its downward trajectory,” he says he would support two more interest rate hikes, which could reach 5.1% to 5. 4%. %.

This will be the highest level since 2006. Currently, the Fed rates are in the range of 4.50-4.75%.

Two reports will be scrutinized ahead of the next meeting: unemployment and employment data for February, which will be released on March 10, and the CPI inflation index on March 14.

The Fed itself prefers another indicator to measure price growth – the PCE index, which will be published on March 31.

The Federal Reserve wants to ease pressure on a labor market facing severe labor shortages “which have driven up wages, fueling high inflation,” the governor said.

Inflation, employment, retail sales: February numbers came in much stronger than expected, while the long-awaited slowdown appeared to be continuing.

“The latest data suggests that consumer spending is not slowing as much, the labor market remains volatile, and inflation is not falling as quickly as we thought,” Waller said.

U.S. inflation rose to 5.4% year-on-year in January, according to the Fed’s preferred PCE index, which it wants to reduce to around 2%.

And the unemployment rate was the lowest in the last 50 years and amounted to 3.4%.

Another Fed official, Neil Kashkari, warned earlier on Wednesday that he was ready to raise interest rates by more than the 25 basis points (a quarter of a percentage point) taken at the previous meeting on February 1, marking a slowdown after several hikes.