Fed’s Waller Says He Still Thinks Neutral Rate Is Relatively Low

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he still thinks the neutral interest rate is relatively low, though he warned that unsustainable fiscal spending could alter that trend.

“In the near term I don’t see anything that has really caused me to change my view that r-star is relatively low,” Waller said Friday on the sidelines of the Reykjavik Economic Conference in Iceland. “It could change in the future, but that’s what we need to keep an eye on.”

Waller’s comments to Bloomberg News followed a speech he gave at the conference on the neutral rate, which economists often refer to ...