The Federal Reserve needs to hike its benchmark interest rate by only an additional 100 basis points to reach its goal of cooling the US economy to curb high inflation, Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel said Friday on CNBC.
“I think we only need 100 basis points more,” Siegel said hours before Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a speech on monetary policy at the central bank’s symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Powell was scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. Eastern time.
“The market thinks it’s going to be a little more — 125, 130 basis points more. My feeling is we won’t need that much because of what I see as a slowdown,” Siegel said.
The Fed in September is expected to deliver its 5th rate hike in 2022. The fed funds rate currently stands at a range of 2.25% and 2.75% after starting the year with the low end of the range at 0%.
“I hope that [Powell] recognizes that the amount of tightening that we’ve put in and are expected to put in between now and year-end, at least 100 basis points, is very much slowing the economy,” said Siegel, whose books include include “Stocks for the Long Run: The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-Term Investment Strategies.”
