Fed nominee Goodfriend says current Fed policy on right course

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Federal Reserve Governor nominee Marvin Goodfriend said on Tuesday that the current Fed policy is "more or less on the right path," suggesting that he might support the current pace of gradual monetary normalization.

Goodfriend made the remarks at his nomination hearing at the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.

Goodfriend, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has warned of the risks of rising inflation although the unemployment rate remained at high levels.

On Tuesday, he defended his view on inflation, saying that "the essence of Federal Reserve's position to stimulate the economy was based on years of generated credibility for anchoring long-run inflation... to drive unemployment down."

Goodfriend expected inflation to rise to the central bank's 2-percent target "in a year or so."

Personal consumption expenditure price index, an inflation gauge preferred by the Fed, rose 1.8 percent in November last year, higher than the 1.6-percent growth in the previous month.

He expressed regret for calling the Fed's dual unemployment and inflation goals "incoherent," saying he supported the dual mandate.

In November last year, President Donald Trump nominated Goodfriend for the post of the governor of the Federal Reserve Board.

Before his career as economics professor, Goodfriend was senior economic advisor at the Reagan administration and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. Enditem