John Williams, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, speaks to Bloomberg TV on Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in New York, USA.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
New York Fed President John Williams said Thursday it is “reasonable” to expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again by the end of the year.
Williams said investor sentiment suggests “further rate hikes are likely appropriate before the end of the year.”
“That seems like a reasonable idea to me, but we have to see. We’re going to collect data and do what we did between July and September,” he said.
Williams also said the time for explicit forward guidance was “over” and echoed the approach of Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, who said he would refrain from directly indicating the central bank’s intentions to markets at future meetings.
He spoke at the Macro Policy Forum in London.
The Fed raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point earlier this month, bringing the overnight rate to its target range of 3.75% to 4%.
Comments from Mr. Warsh and other central bank officials following the decision have raised market expectations for further rate hikes in the coming months. The probability of an October rate hike was 77.5% on Thursday, up from about 53% on Wednesday, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
Recent data suggests that the U.S. economy remains strong while inflation remains above 3%.
Boston Fed President Susan Collins warned on Wednesday that it is “increasingly likely” that inflation will remain “significantly” above the Fed’s 2% target.
“Further policy adjustments will likely be necessary to ensure inflation falls to target in a timely manner,” Federal Reserve President Michael Barr said Wednesday.
