Federal Reserve Chairman Mohamed Mussaleem said on Friday that he was reluctant to support further interest rate cuts given that inflation has remained above the Fed's 2% target. Mussaleem said he agreed with the Fed's decision this week to keep rates unchanged, and believed that the Fed's target rate of 3.5% to 3.75% was no longer high enough to significantly dampen the economy. Continued price increases should prevent the Fed from lowering rates to support the economy. Mussaleem stated, "Given that inflation is above target and the risks to the economic outlook are broadly balanced, I don't think it's appropriate to lower rates into an accommodative range at this time." Mussaleem also pointed out that attempting to ease labor market pressures by lowering short-term interest rates controlled by the Fed could backfire. He said such a move could trigger concerns about future inflation and push up long-term interest rates, which are a key factor determining mortgage costs and business borrowing costs.