Fed's Cook says more rate hikes needed to combat inflation

WASHINGTON (AP) — More interest rate increases will be necessary to wrestle inflation under control, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said Thursday, echoing several tough speeches by other central bank officials this week.

Cook said she has revised her views on inflation in the past several months and now sees it as more persistent. And while real-time, private-sector data is showing signs that inflation could cool in the coming months, the Fed should only slow rate hikes when inflation actually falls, she said.

“With inflation running well above our 2% longer-run goal, restoring price stability likely will require ongoing rate hikes, and then keeping policy restrictive for some time until we are confident that inflation is firmly on the path” back to 2%, she said at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Cook's speech, her first as Fed governor, comes after hawkish comments earlier Thursday by Neel Kashkari, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Fed, on Wednesday. “Hawks” in Fed-speak typically support higher interest rates to quell inflation, while “doves” are often more focused on keeping rates low to support more hiring.