{"text":[[{"start":9.25,"text":"A top Federal Reserve official has warned that the US central bank will need to consider raising interest rates soon if underlying inflation comes in “hot” this week."}],[{"start":19.7,"text":"In hawkish remarks on Monday, governor Christopher Waller said a “concerning” increase in core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, could warrant action by the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee."}],[{"start":32.4,"text":"“Sternly staring at inflation until it melts before our withering gaze is not an option,” Waller told the New York Association for Business Economics."}],[{"start":42.8,"text":"“If we get another hot reading on core inflation this week, then the FOMC will need to consider tightening monetary policy in the near term.”"}],[{"start":51.65,"text":"Waller’s remarks come as investors pull forward expectations of interest rate increases as renewed fighting in the Middle East pushes up oil prices again and stokes inflation fears. "}],[{"start":63.3,"text":"Traders in the futures market are pricing in two quarter-point interest rate increases by April next year, with the first as soon as October. Last week, traders were betting on a single increase in December."}],[{"start":75.89999999999999,"text":"Inflation has lurched higher in recent months as Donald Trump’s war in Iran drives up fuel costs. The Fed’s preferred personal consumption expenditures measure rose to 4.1 per cent in May, well above the central bank’s 2 per cent target. "}],[{"start":89.64999999999999,"text":"The closely watched consumer price index’s headline measure hit a three-year high of 4.2 per cent in May. A Bloomberg poll expects it to decline to 3.8 per cent when June data is released this week, but core inflation is expected to hold steady at 2.9 per cent. "}],[{"start":106.54999999999998,"text":"Waller said he expected “a deceleration of headline inflation” in the wake of the drop in oil prices last month, before the US and Iran escalated the conflict over the weekend."}],[{"start":117.49999999999999,"text":"Oil prices rose to a high well above $100 a barrel after the US and Israel launched a war on Iran in February, but fell to the low $70s this month as a ceasefire in the Gulf took hold and energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz rose. Brent crude was trading above $80 on Monday, up 6 per cent, as the US and Iran threatened to block the waterway. "}],[{"start":143.04999999999998,"text":"But Waller cautioned that core inflation “began rising well before the oil price shock” and said there had been “recent signs of continued pressure on goods prices”."}],[{"start":153.24999999999997,"text":"Waller said inflation was being driven by energy prices, tariffs and “spillovers from demand for the AI build-out.”"}],[{"start":160.79999999999998,"text":"He said that while surging demand for AI-related equipment had had a “limited effect on overall inflation so far, it is possible they could be a larger factor if the investment surge for AI continues”."}],[{"start":173.14999999999998,"text":"“Overall, I am monitoring price movements and am alert to the risk that the increase in core inflation is a sign that inflationary pressures are spreading through the economy,” he said. “The FOMC has to be ready to tighten monetary policy to prevent a repeat of the 2021-to-2022 inflation episode.”"}],[{"start":198.34999999999997,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783990829_9467.mp3"}