Schmidt of the Federal Reserve calls for tightening monetary policy to curb excessively high inflation.

Jeff Schmid, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said on Tuesday that some form of tightening monetary policy is needed to bring the "excessively high" inflation rate back to the target level of 2%. "Aside from the significant exception of inflation, the economy seems to be performing well," Schmid stated in a speech prepared for an upcoming event on agricultural issues hosted by the bank. Schmid expressed, "My primary concern is inflation," noting that given recent data, monetary policy does not seem to have taken measures to counter these price pressures. "Therefore, I believe that to reduce inflation to the Federal Reserve's 2% target, a tighter policy needs to be implemented." The official, who currently does not have a vote on the Federal Open Market Committee responsible for setting interest rates, did not specify when he hopes the Fed will raise rates or by how much. This was Schmid's first public statement since last week's FOMC meeting, where officials voted to keep the federal funds rate target range unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75% against the backdrop of long-standing concerns about excessive inflation.