Fed’s Rosengren: had not assumed near-term fiscal stimulus in latest forecast

(Reuters) - Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren on Thursday said he assumed no new fiscal stimulus this year when making his latest economic projections and thus his outlook was among the

October 8, 2020

(Reuters) – Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren on Thursday said he assumed no new fiscal stimulus this year when making his latest economic projections and thus his outlook was among the lower ones offered by Fed policymakers last month.

“Most of my colleagues had an assumption that there was going to be additional fiscal stimulus. I had a somewhat different assumption,” Rosengren said in response to a question following an online presentation hosted by Marquette University. “I assumed no fiscal stimulus until the beginning of next year. As a result my forecast was much weaker than many of my colleagues.”

Rosengren said his weaker outlook was also influenced by concerns about the build-up of excessive leverage and its potentially destabilizing effect, which had been the focus of his prepared remarks.

(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Andrea Ricci)