Loretta Mester, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland speaking:
- says economy is still far from central bank's goals for maximum employment and price stability
- progress is being made and the economic outlook is brightening
- sizable support from fiscal and monetary policy and vaccination deployment point to a pickup in activity in the second half of this year
This: "still far from central bank's goals" ... is code for policy accommodation to continue.
These from her prepared text, there will be more to follow in the Q&A
