Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller says the central bank may need to raise interest rates in the near term if core inflation signals broad, persistent price pressures. In remarks reported by Bloomberg and the Financial Post, Waller links the possibility of additional tightening to the ongoing behavior of underlying inflation rather than to a single data point. He indicates that if core measures continue to show that inflation pressures are widespread across goods and services, policymakers would likely consider further increases to bring inflation back toward target. The sources describe his comments as conditional, emphasizing that the Fed’s next steps depend on whether the inflation outlook remains consistent with broad-based persistence. Overall, both outlets present the same message: Waller is prepared to support additional rate hikes if underlying inflation does not cool as expected. The reporting does not cite any changes in policy decisions at the time of the comments, focusing instead on the governor’s outlook and guidance on how the Fed could respond to inflation data.