Federal Reserve officials debated the possibility of restarting interest rate cuts, with inflation risk emerging as the biggest obstacle.

PANews reported on February 18th that, according to Jinshi News, Chicago Federal Reserve President Goolsby stated on Tuesday that if inflation continues to decline towards the 2% target level, there may be more room for interest rate cuts this year. Goolsby warned that service sector inflation remains high, and stated that if tariff-related price increases are a one-off event, it could provide policymakers with room to adjust. On the same day, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Daly stated that the Fed still needs to suppress inflation, and while artificial intelligence may help in this regard, moderate or slightly restrictive policies from the Fed are also crucial to achieving this goal. Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr's interest rate stance is relatively more hawkish, stating that given the continued risks to the US inflation outlook, the next Fed rate cut may be a long time away. Barr also noted in his speech that the job market has stabilized, a fact recently confirmed by data.