(Reuters) – In order to lower inflation, the Federal Reserve could have to force long-term real rate increases into a contractionary stance, Neel Kazhkari of Minneapolis Fed stated on Friday.

In an essay published on Medium, Kashkari stated that “we will need to monitor incoming data for the next few months to determine whether fulfilling current guidance is sufficient to bring inflation down or if it will require us to do more.” He also said that China’s war with Ukraine and COVID lockdowns in China would likely slow down normalization of supply chain.

“If they don’t unwind quickly or if the economy really is in a higher-pressure equilibrium, then we will likely have to push long-term real rates to a contractionary stance to bring supply and demand into balance,” he said.

The central bank raised interest rates by a half percentage point earlier this week, the biggest hike in 22 years, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled policymakers stand ready to approve half-percentage-point rate hikes at upcoming policy meetings in June and July as it steps up its fight to lower high inflation.