Fed's Williams: Pace of rate increases depends on economy

Reuters has reported what New York Fed President John Williams said on Saturday.

''Williams, in response to questions at a symposium about whether the Fed needed to hasten its return to a neutral policy rate that neither encourages or discourages spending, noted that in 2019 with rates set near the neutral level 'the economic expansion started to slow,' and the Fed resorted to rate cuts.''

''The Federal Reserve needs to move monetary policy towards a more neutral stance, but the pace at which it tightens credit will depend on how the economy reacts,'' Williams added.

"We need to get closer to neutral but we need to watch the whole way," Williams said. "There is no question that is the direction we are moving. Exactly how quickly we do that depends on the circumstances.”

Meanwhile, the US dollar climbed on Friday, assisted by robust US job growth numbers for March. The Nonfarm Payrolls data firmed market expectations that the Federal Reserve will increase the pace of interest rate hikes in an effort to blunt rising inflation. 431,000 jobs were added last month, below the estimates of 490,000, although data for February job increases were revised higher. However, the Unemployment rate fell to 3.6%, the lowest since February 2020.