Analysis: Waller may release dovish signals at Jackson Hole, with US debt policy coordination becoming the market focus

The market is closely watching Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Walsh's speech at the Jackson Hole annual meeting this Friday. As U.S. long-term Treasury yields continue to rise, the market generally expects Walsh to possibly release dovish signals to alleviate concerns about inflation and fiscal risks in the bond market.

Mark Cabana, head of U.S. interest rate strategy at Bank of America, stated that the market has gradually lost sensitivity to Walsh's previous verbal statements about "fighting inflation," and investors currently hope to see a substantive policy path to address inflation. Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Basant has recently increased the repurchase of long-term U.S. Treasuries and financed the government through the issuance of short-term bonds, indicating some divergence between the Treasury and the Federal Reserve in managing the bond market.

The article points out that Basant's shift of financing pressure to the short end effectively bets U.S. fiscal costs on future interest rate declines. If Walsh can promote interest rate cuts by controlling inflation and boosting productivity, the short-term financing model is expected to reduce government interest expenses; however, if long-term rates remain high, U.S. fiscal pressure may further intensify.

The market also anticipates that the Federal Reserve may make adjustments to liquidity management and balance sheet policies. Michael Cloherty, head of U.S. interest rate strategy at CIBC, believes that quantitative tightening could begin as early as the end of 2027, provided that regulatory rule changes can reduce banks' demand for reserves.

Currently, the Federal Reserve still holds about $1.6 trillion in long-term U.S. Treasuries. Walsh's statements at Jackson Hole regarding long-term yields, inflation, and the path of balance sheet reduction may become an important signal for assessing the degree of future policy coordination between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury.