Fed's Logan Calls for At Least Two More Hikes as Musalem Says Next Hike Should Come Soon

SentiSense · Published Oct 30, 2026, 10:51 AM ET · Updated Oct 30, 2026, 4:54 PM ET

Two days after the Fed held its target range at 3.75% to 4.00% in a 10-2 vote, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said the central bank needs at least two more quarter-point hikes, while St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said additional firming will be necessary "soon". Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin called the direction straightforward but said the question is pace. Futures price roughly 76% odds of a hike at the December meeting.

Federal Reserve officials spent Friday signaling that this week's pause is not the end of the tightening cycle. Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said the FOMC needs to implement at least two more 25-basis-point rate increases to get inflation under control, what Reuters called some of the most explicit rate guidance offered by a US central banker in a long time. "Skipping a meeting does not change the monetary policy destination," she said, arguing that a clear destination lets the economy adapt to higher rates. After those two hikes, she said, it would make sense to pause.

St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem did not commit to a number but pushed on timing: "I judge that additional firming of monetary policy will be necessary, and soon," he said, adding that inflation remains too high with risks tilted to the upside and that raising rates sooner and gradually would reduce the risk of more disruptive increases later. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin described the Fed's direction as "pretty straightforward" and said "the question, though, is pace".

The remarks follow the Oct 27-28 FOMC meeting, where the committee held the federal funds target range at 3.75% to 4.00% in a 10-2 vote,; per the Fed's statement, Cook and Hammack dissented in favor of an immediate quarter-point hike. Other central banks also held in October while laying groundwork for further increases, and longer-dated Treasury yields rose despite the hold. Logan argued that if markets understand the plan, the precise timing of each hike has little effect on the longer-term rates most borrowers pay.

The open question is whether the committee will follow Logan's explicit path. Reuters notes that Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh has argued such forward guidance belongs only in crisis periods. Futures price roughly 76% odds of a hike at the December 8-9 meeting, so the next inflation prints and Fed communications will decide whether Friday's hawkish chorus becomes policy.