ME News message. On September 22 (UTC+8), the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Mussailem said on Monday that due to strong demand and commodity price shocks that have gone beyond the oil sector, the Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates further to reduce inflation. He also emphasized that the Federal Reserve should take action as early as possible rather than waiting. Mussailem said, “Sustained demand and the repeated appearance of supply pressures are further aggravating inflation risks. I believe that without additional policy measures to curb inflation, in 18 months inflation is likely to be significantly higher than our 2% target, rather than at the target level. I believe policy must impose meaningful constraints on inflation. That way, the Federal Reserve can achieve its inflation target in about a year and a half, leaving time for the effects of the tightening policy on the economy.” He added, “Compared with policy tightening measures that are later, larger in scale, and potentially more sudden, earlier, incremental tightening is more appropriate and results in a smaller impact on the economy.” Mussailem noted that inflation is “not a risk—it is already here.” Even after excluding the effects of oil and other supply-related factors, the core inflation rate may still be several percentage points above the Federal Reserve’s target, and “it is moving in the wrong direction.” (Source: ME)