Starting Aug. 21, Hammack will succeed Loretta Mester, who steps down June 30. First Vice President Mark Meder will serve as the interim president.
“It is a great privilege to serve the Fourth District, and the country, in fulfilling our mission of fostering a strong, stable economy in which all Americans have the opportunity to prosper,” Hammack said.
“I look forward to meeting the people who work and live in the Fourth District, both as their representative on the [Federal Open Market Committee] and as their neighbor. I cannot wait to lead the Bank’s talented team, who deliver every day on our important mission,” she added.
As the Cleveland Fed chief, Hammack will have a vote on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which will weigh when and if to cut interest rates in the coming months.
The FOMC has held interest rates at a 23-year high of 5.25 to 5.5 percent – up from near zero in March 2022 – since last July.
While Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled last December that rate cuts were on the table in 2024, a slight uptick in inflation has kicked that timeline further into the year.
A majority of interest rate traders don’t expect the first rate cuts to come until November, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
Hammack was most recently as co-head of global financing at Goldman Sachs, which she joined as an analyst in 1993 and became a partner and co-head of U.S. cash interest rates trading in 2010.
A Stanford University graduate, Hammack holds degrees in quantitative economics and history.
The Hill’s Taylor Giorno has more here.
