(Reuters) - The president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, Richard Fisher, on Wednesday repeated his view that more monetary policy easing will not help boost employment and could even hurt the U.S. economy because it could exacerbate market uncertainty.
Fisher, an inflation hawk, has remained a staunch opponent of more policy stimulus even as some policymakers at the U.S. central bank, including San Francisco Fed President John Williams, say the Fed should act to try to push down stubbornly high unemployment.
In an interview with CNBC, Fisher reiterated his call for lawmakers to provide more "fiscal clarity," giving U.S. businesses the certainty he says they need to make decisions about spending and hiring.
"They are the only game in town," Fisher said, referring to members of the U.S. Congress. "They have to do something."
Fisher does not have a vote this year on the Fed's policy-setting panel, which next meets in mid-September. At its most recent meeting, the Fed stood pat on policy, leaving unchanged its expectation that interest rates will remain near zero through late 2014, even as it gave a gloomier assessment of the economy.
"There's no uncertainty about one thing - there's plenty of cheap high-octane fuel which we the Fed have provided," Fisher said. "What good would it do to put still more out there since what we've already put out there is not having much effect on employment?"
The U.S. jobless rate ticked up to 8.3 percent last month.
Fisher said further Fed action could actually hurt a recovery already only at stall speed by fueling uncertainty "if people feel we are going too far.
"Our actions have not assisted the problem, and you can't, in my opinion, unless you get fiscal clarity."
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