🔻 A U.S. Federal Reserve official: Inflation is higher than oil price increases

Neil Kashkari, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, says that inflation in the United States is high across all sectors of the economy and is not only related to rising oil prices following the Iran-U.S. war and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis is one of the 12 regional districts of the U.S. central bank.

Kashkari told Fox News that even if energy and food costs are set aside, inflation is still too high, and the central bank must bring it back to its two percent target.

He added that raising interest rates cannot reopen the Strait of Hormuz or lower oil prices, but the U.S. central bank has tools to reduce inflation in areas such as services.

Kashkari last week backed the U.S. central bank’s decision to raise interest rates by one-quarter of a percentage point and bring them to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent.

Kevin Warsh, the head of the U.S. central bank, also said last week that the inflation rate used by this bank to set its two percent target is expected to have been around 3.6 percent in August.

U.S. President Donald Trump has long opposed further interest rate hikes by the U.S. central bank and has repeatedly threatened to dismiss its members, criticizing them sharply for operating within an institution independent of the government.