**:Xinhua.
Washington, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Loretta Mester, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, said on Feb. 6 that she is open to interest rate cuts, but the Fed will not rush to make a decision, and the specific timetable will depend on the U.S. economic situation.
Speaking at a conference in Columbus, Ohio, on the same day, Mester said the Fed would gather more evidence that inflation is indeed returning to its long-term target of 2% in a sustained and timely manner. If the U.S. economy develops as expected, the Fed is confident that the pressure is easing and "can start cutting interest rates." But if inflation stagnates above the target level, the Fed will "maintain a restrictive monetary policy for longer."
On the same day, the head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Neil Kashkari, made a similar opinion. Kashkari believes that the Fed has not yet reached its goal in controlling inflation and hinted that the Fed is unlikely to cut interest rates anytime soon.
The Federal Reserve ended its first monetary policy meeting of the year on January 31 and maintained the target range for the federal interest rate at 5 for the fourth time in a row25% to 55% is unchanged. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after the meeting that the FOMC is "unlikely to reach confidence levels in March." The statement diluted market expectations that the Fed would cut interest rates for the first time at its March meeting.
According to data from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, as of the evening of the 6th Eastern time, the market expects the probability that the Fed will keep interest rates unchanged in March is close to 80%, and the probability that the Fed will cut interest rates by 25 basis points in May is close to 55%.