Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said he remained optimistic that inflation pressures are on track to ease gradually, but if they don't the U.S. central bank will not hesitate to respond with rate hikes to ensure price pressures return to target.
If energy prices and trade tariffs have peaked and the economy remains on a solid footing, "I think that some of the big drivers that pushed up inflation" over the last year and half or so "will not be at play as much, and then some of the disinflationary forces that we've been seeing" should reassert themselves, Williams said in an interview with Reuters on Friday.
