Speaking at the Boston Fed’s annual conference for regional and community banks, Collins said her most likely scenario is healthy growth with the labour market near full employment and inflation gradually returning to 2 percent, helped by efficiency gains lifting productive capacity. She flagged fuel costs from the Middle East war, including New England heating oil, and AI data centre construction costs as pressures to watch, and said the question is whether price rises stay confined to energy and AI related categories or broaden. Her timing will depend on the incoming data, she said, starting with Wednesday’s CPI print.
Collins sees Fed raising rates a bit further this year
Boston Fed President Susan Collins said on Tuesday that she backed last month's rate hike and expects the Fed will need to raise rates a bit further before the end of the year to return inflation to its 2 percent target.
Why it matters: Collins is the latest senior official to line up behind one more hike in 2026, and her case, that a resilient economy lets the Fed focus on inflation after more than five years above target, lands one day before the September CPI report that will test the consensus.
Data as of Tuesday, October 13, 2026. American Banker report opened and read in full; Reuters carried the same prepared remarks to the Boston Fed banking conference. Developing item, 2 to 3 sentences by design.
Sources
- Fed's Collins sees another rate hike on the table before end of 2026 · Reuters, via Kitco News · 2026-10-13
- Inflation likely to spark more rate hikes: Boston Fed's Collins · American Banker · 2026-10-13