The "three heads" of the Federal Reserve expect energy prices to not continue to rise, and the inflation level in the United States remains "far above target".

New York Fed President John Williams said on Thursday that despite the escalation of tensions in the Middle East, energy prices are not expected to continue rising for the remainder of the year. He emphasized that the current inflation level in the United States is still "well above target" and the Federal Reserve will continue to base its monetary policy decisions on economic data, firmly committed to bringing inflation down to 2%. Williams made these remarks at a meeting hosted by the New York Fed that day, stating that the market currently expects international oil prices to gradually decline over the next 6 to 12 months, which is still a reasonable assessment. From a fundamental perspective, energy prices may have already reached a temporary high point and are expected to gradually decline in the future. Regarding the outlook for inflation, Williams stated that the focus of the Federal Reserve is whether the rise in energy prices will further push up overall inflation. He pointed out that the current inflation level in the United States is still "well above target," and the Fed is continuously evaluating different inflation scenarios and will steadfastly work towards achieving the long-term goal of returning inflation to 2%. As the President of the New York Fed, Williams also serves as the Vice Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee responsible for setting interest rate policies. Like the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, he has a permanent voting right and is considered the "third person" of the Fed. Williams also mentioned that current investments in artificial intelligence (AI) are to some extent boosting inflation pressures, but in the long term, AI is expected to become a positive force driving supply improvement. He anticipates that as AI technology becomes more widely used, productivity will increase, helping to alleviate future inflation pressures. When it comes to measuring inflation, Williams stated that the Federal Reserve is more focused on potential inflation factors rather than just a single inflation indicator. He noted that with the constant adjustment of government statistical methods, the difference between the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index and the Consumer Price Index is expected to further narrow in the future. Speaking about the outlook for monetary policy, Williams reiterated that the Federal Reserve will continue to adhere to the principle of being "data dependent" and adjust policy paths based on the latest economic data. He stated that the US labor market remains very stable, but there is still significant uncertainty regarding the long-term neutral interest rate level. Furthermore, Williams believes that the latest meeting minutes released by the Federal Reserve reflect well the overall policy response framework of the decision-making body, showing the committee's comprehensive consideration of future policy paths under different economic scenarios.