Fed's Williams: still 'a way to go' to reach 2% inflation goal

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve has taken great strides in lowering inflation back down toward its 2% target rate but is still "a way" from achieving the goal, New York Fed Bank President John Williams said on Friday.

"We have seen significant progress in bringing it down," Williams said in prepared remarks to an event at the Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai. "But we still have a way to go to reach our 2 percent target on a sustained basis. We are committed to getting the job done."

By the U.S. central bank's preferred measure, inflation in May was running at a 2.6% annual rate, down from the 7.1% peak reached during the COVID-19 pandemic. To help slow price increases, the Fed has held its benchmark interest rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range since last July.

The minutes of the Fed's June 11-12 meeting, which were published on Wednesday, showed policymakers more confident that price pressures are abating, although Williams underscored in his speech that the Fed will always be guided by the totality of economic data it receives and takes nothing for granted.

"Uncertainty will continue to be the defining characteristic of the monetary policy landscape for the foreseeable future," Williams said.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrew Heavens)