Fed’s Kaplan says he supports extending the Fed’s emergency-lending efforts in comments to the WSJ

Federal Reserve Board Member Kaplan said he supports extending the Fed’s emergency-lending efforts that target main street firms and offer support for displaced workers, in comments made to the Wall Street Journal. Kaplan said it will be time to taper bond buying when the economy is clearly recovering, before reiterating that more government (fiscal) aid would be welcome.

On the near-term outlook for the economy, Kaplan said that while the first-quarter will likely bring flat to slightly declining economic activity, he still expects a strong year on the whole and suggested that inflation could pick up as the economy perks up. However, he caveated that broader and longer-running trends in the economy tied in large part to technology could dampen any jump in price pressures.

Market Reaction

The Dollar Index (DXY) continues to trade just above the 90.00 level, with markets predominantly focused on 1) Brexit negotiations over the weekend and 2) US fiscal stimulus negotiations, which according to the latest comments from Senator Thune, are unlikely to culminate in a deal on Friday but could come by Sunday.