Cleveland Fed President Hammack said that policy may remain unchanged for a considerable period of time.

Beth Hammack, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, stated that the current interest rates are only at a mildly restrictive level, and officials may keep borrowing costs unchanged for a period of time. Hammack said on Tuesday that, despite some recent progress, the Federal Reserve is still "a ways off" from achieving its inflation target. She also noted that official data can be lagging and may not fully reflect the current situation, including the recent rise in oil prices which could push up inflation expectations. "Policy may remain unchanged for quite some time, and then the Committee may begin implementing very gentle rate cuts to bring policy back to a neutral stance," Hammack said in a speech prepared for a conference in London. Here, she is referring to the Federal Open Market Committee, which is responsible for setting interest rate policy.