(Reuters) – Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said on Friday he was watching carefully for any economic impact from the Delta variant of the coronavirus and might need to adjust his views on policy “somewhat” should it slow economic growth materially.
“It’s unfolding rapidly,” Kaplan told Fox Business Network. Kaplan has previously said he would like the Fed to begin tapering its asset purchases in October.
“So far it’s not having a material effect” on consumer activity like dining out, he said, but “it is having an effect in delaying return to office, it’s affecting the abilty to hire workers because of fear of infection,” and may be affecting production output, he said.
(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Gareth Jones)
