Susan Collins is President of the Boston Federal Reserve branch.
Collins spoke in an interview with the New York Times (gated) on Wednesday.
- said either a 25 or 50bp move would be "reasonable"
- she leans towards +25
- expects terminal federal funds rate to be just above 5%
- expects 3*25bp rate hikes, in February, March, and May and will then hold until the end of the year
Reasoning:
- "Adjusting slowly gives more time to assess the incoming data before we make each decision, as we get close to where we're going to hold"
- "Smaller changes give us more flexibility."
- "We've really moved into the second phase of our work: The first phase, it was about being aggressive. Now, that we're in restrictive territory, I continue to believe that what I think of as 'judicious' moves are the right way to get there."
