Fed Chair Warsh stresses price stability, offers no signals on rate outlook

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said Friday he won't prejudge what the US central bank will do about interest rates at its upcoming meetings in October and December.

The Fed increased its key interest rate by a quarter-point to about 3.9 per cent in September, its first increase in three years, and stubbornly elevated US inflation will likely lead it to hike that rate again in coming months to slow spending and help cool price pressures.

But Warsh offered no fresh signals during a "fireside chat" with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva at a meeting of financial leaders in Bangkok.

"At the Federal Reserve, we made very clear that we would deliver price stability, and we removed a dose of accommodation about a month ago," Warsh said.

"I don't prejudge meetings.

I don't believe in saying now what I might do at the meetings that we have in the balance of this year." The Fed's September rate hike defied US President Donald Trump's repeated calls for