Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans said he is "personally worried" that inflation remains below the central bank's 2% target, but he thinks monetary policy is in "a good place," according to Reuters.
Evans' remarks at an event on Dec. 18 in Indianapolis follow appearances by two other Fed officials the day before that also added to the impression that the central bank will keep rates on hold for the time being.
Markets have assigned better-than-even odds that the target for the federal funds rate will remain in a range of 1.5% to 1.75% after its December 2020 meeting, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool as of 2:10 p.m. ET on Dec. 18.
Evans voted in favor of the Fed's three rate cuts this year, but he will rotate off the Federal Open Market Committee as a voting member at the end of 2019.
Evans said the Fed should allow inflation to rise above its target to achieve a long-term 2% average, Reuters reported. That approach would be similar to concepts Fed officials have been considering as they review their policy toolkit.