Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook said Wednesday that inflation is still too high and she is "prepared to act" on an interest rate hike.
Cook voted with the majority last week to hold rates steady but said that may no longer be possible unless there are sure signs ahead that inflation is easing.
"Inflation is too high, and I consider the risks to the inflation side of the dual mandate higher than the risks to the employment side at this point," Cook said during a speech in Anchorage, Alaska.
While acknowledging that the June data showed inflation easing thanks largely to a sharp slide in energy prices, the policymaker said there shouldn't be too much read into a single data point.
Cook was part of a 9-3 majority that voted last week to keep the central bank's benchmark borrowing rate in a range between 3.5%-3.75%. She explained that her vote came from a desire to see how possibly waning impacts from tariffs, an energy supply shock due to the Iran war and pressures from the artificial intelligence buildout impact prices.
"If I do not see signs of continued disinflation soon, I am prepared to act," Cook said.
Earlier in the day, Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, one of the three dissenting votes for the rate decision, told CNBC that he still believes higher rates are necessary.
