Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis interim president Kathleen O’Neill Paese suggested policymakers should be ready to raise interest rates further if progress on inflation slows. Paese said on Thursday she supported the decision to leave rates steady at the central bank’s last policy meeting but also said it was important for officials to have the option to hike further if needed to cool inflation. “With policy currently exerting modest downward pressure on inflation, and given the balance of risks, we can afford to await further data before concluding that additional policy tightening is appropriate,” Paese said in ... (full story)