BANGKOK — Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh refrained from signaling whether there will be another interest rate hike again this month, while acknowledging a "synchronous tightening" by central banks around the world and there's "no free riders."
"I don't prejudge meetings. I don't believe in saying now what I might do at the meetings that we have in the balance of this year," Warsh said, reiterating his opposition to the use of forward guidance for markets that should rely on interpreting data.
He also acknowledged that stance may disappoint anyone who had hoped for a steer ahead of the central bank meeting later this month. "It's a new chapter at the Fed [and] we're not in that business anymore. But we can go in any direction you'd like," he said.
Warsh spoke at a fireside chat with the International Monetary Fund's managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, as part of the weeklong IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok on Friday.
"Alongside other recent comments from FOMC participants, Warsh's comments indicate that the FOMC is set to pause in October," Goldman Sachs economists led by Jan Hatzius wrote in a note. "We continue to expect a second and final hike in December."